Month: April 2020

This is normally a busy week in lucha libre. Tomorrow is Kid’s Day, which would’ve led to a high volume of shows this weekend across Mexico. (CMLL is sending out Kid’s Day wishes on YouTube instead.) There’s no new solid information about when things may resume. Mexico’s president said today that some regions of Mexico may begin to open up on May 17th. Those would be the areas least affected by the virus. It has hit hardest in Mexico City, about 25% of all cases, and so the location of much of the major league wrestling seems unlikely to be included in that group opening up. A new report on the virus is due tomorrow, and dates may be adjusted again after it.

Cain Velasquez was apparently cut by WWE recently. It’s strange for WWE to release a high profile name without mentioning it, but Velasquez’s whole short tenure with WWE was strange. He had signed a three-year deal in October, made it about six months, and wrestled twice. He never wrestled in the US for the promotion, instead just in one Saudi Arabia show (a short loss to Brock Lesnar) and the annual Mexico City stop. Velasquez was signed so AEW could not sign him, so WWE could do the rematch with Lesnar and because Velasquez had buzz coming off appearing on AAA’s TripleMania and New York show, but it was immediately evident that WWE had no interest in Cain as he had gotten over in AAA – and after he lost to Lesnar, no interest in him at all. Velasquez use in WWE has diminished the buzz he had; I think it’s possible AAA would bring him in once again if they’re able to have something like a normal TripleMania again this year.

El Fantasma hosted a food/basic necessities drive at the offices of the lucha libre commission on Monday. Current luchadors, retired luchadors, and referees were given items. R de Rudo’s article has Super Porky and CMLL referee Tigre Infante pictured. The Gladiatores shows more people and includes India Sioux & La Marquesa thanking for the help.

The AMLL group of promotions based in Torreon also gave out food to wrestlers.

Gran Hamada will be honored on August 29th show in Guadalajara’s Arena Verdugo Nazi.

A short article on Tribuna better explains the whole Cibernetico paternity situation; at least one side believes this is more about child support payments then the child. Sabrina Sabrok & Erik Farjeat had a daughter, they divorced, Farjeat wants the child and those child support payments, Sabrok believes he’s using the girl for the money and that he’s not even really the father – that’s where Cibernetico came in. Last week, this news was dropped shockingly on Cibernetico and he wanted nothing to do with it. This week, Cibernetico has changed his mind and is now willing to the DNA test because he disapproves of Farjeat.

Box Y Lucha continues to post their El Arbitro articles Antonio Pena articles with part 2, part 3, and part 4. They are highly entertaining.

AAA , FIGHTER (SAT) 04/18/2020 Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal [+LuchaTV week 2, ESTO week 2, Factor4 week 2, Furia de Titanes week 2, Lucha Central week 2, R de Rudo week 2]
8) Big Mami b Vanilla 
5:39. Mami beat Vanilla. Maravilla attacked Mami with Faby Apache making the save.
9) Lady Maravilla b Keyra 
7:13. Maravilla submitted Keyra to a back bridge cradle. Mami attacked both Maravilla and Keyra. Maravilla earlier declared she’d be mixed tag champion for years to come.
10) Lady Shani b Faby Apache 
8:05. Shani beat Apache with a powerbomb and a cradle.
11) Chessman b Myzteziz Jr. 
7:11. Chessman beat Myzteziz with a spear. Laredo Kid attacked Chessman and Carta Brava Jr. made a failed slave.
12) LA Park b Laredo Kid 
10:35. LA Park was a surprise. LA Park won via hanging DDT, but later reported he suffered a fractured tailbone and a toe.
13) Pagano b Octagón Jr. 
4:43. Pagano beat Octagon Jr. with a rebound inverted suplex. Chessman attacked after.
14) Pentagón Jr. b Niño Hamburguesa 
8:26. Pentagon won with a top rope double stomp and then praised Hamburguesa. Pentagon was revealed as a surprise earlier.

This was a weaker overall show but it wasn’t bad. LA Park/Laredo Kid was very strong. Pentagon/Hamburguesa was fun in a non-traditional big match way. There were a lot of run-ins to set up storylines, likely leading to some non-tournament matches in the next couple of weeks.

Sunday night, LA Park posted that he fractured his tailbone and toe in the match with Laredo Kid, but would still continue in the tournament. (I noticed this from David Chairez’ Twitter post, but other people following LA Park had it too.) LA Park has since scrubbed the post from his Facebook. LA Park is a man who retweets and reposts every mention of himself on social media so you can still see those posts responding to his post on Facebook; it’s not an entirely thorough scrubbing. (You need to count to 20 at least!)

The issue here is LA Park somewhat gave away the taped nature of the shows by revealing his injury. He has had the injury for a week, if they shows were all taped together last weekend as believed, and acknowledging the injury after it happened is not a problem in itself. LA Park saying he was going to continue in the tournament seems like more of an issue: either AAA has to admit they’ve taped those matches already or AAA has to pretend they’re asking a fifty-year-old luchador to fly back and forth from Mexico City the next two weeks on a broken tailbone and with a foot in a boot. Whatever you want to think of AAA, they’re not that cruel, but they look that cruel if LA Park publicizes the injury now. So the injury needs to go away for two weeks.

A broken tailbone can take between 8-12 weeks to heal, though LA Park seemed to be more concerned about the toe and so maybe the tailbone is not a severe as is reads. It does seem like might not see LA Park again after this tournament ends until July, even if lucha libre is going on before then.

A photo of a woman using a Lady Shani mask as protection in Merida got a lot of attention in Mexico over the weekend. Some of it was less than polite, but Shani says she felt honored by the gesture and is looking for help locating the woman.

Mas Lucha Torneo Supremo started on Saturday. New matches are going up at 9 pm CT, except Saturdays will go up at 10 pm CT (right after Lucha Fighter), and all the matches are going into a playlist. Arez vs Payaso Purasanta Jr. will air tonight.

I’m going to eventually write about these in more detail. For now, I’ve only watched the Demonio Infernal versus Ciclope match. The production quality on these are high and there seems to be a focused intent on showcasing the various personality, but it does come off as almost too much. The second episode, with Ricky Marvin and Miedo Extremo, is apparently a twelve-minute match where the entire video lasts thirty-eight minutes. That’s asking out of a lot out of people and makes it hard to recommend to sample for people who aren’t already in. The Infernal/Ciclope match was a weird choice to kick off the tournament. The wrestling seemed fine, there was no issue there. The finish was confusing, with run-ins with characters who’d not be seen on that program, as part of continuing feuds in promotions like Lucha Libre Vanguardia & Welcome to Mi Barrio. It sent the message that this was more for someone who just absorbs all of +LuchaTV programming and not for casual lucha libre fans (or even casual indie lucha libre fans) and that you should be prepared to get disappointing finishes. I’m guessing the entire tournament won’t be that way – it sounds like Marvin/Extremo was not – but that’s why making it the run-in heavy match pick for episode 1 was so strange.

+LuchaTV has columns defending the Guadalajara promotion that has children wrestling (they’re trained, there are kids playing other sports) and the case against empty arena shows, which is obviously a surprising thing to read on a site promoting their own empty arena show.

Pasala has an interview with Mariela Rodriguez, the widow of Mr. Niebla. He passed away last December 23 and she’s upset with the treatment CMLL offered him. She says Niebla suffered an elbow injury in Oaxaca, where liquid came out. Kraneo, who also works as a chiropractor, saw the injury and told Niebla he had an infection. Rodriguez told CMLL Chief of Medical Services Omar Palacios that Niebla was still ill, and Palacio insisted Niebla only had a high temperature and no infection. Niebla apparently later got checked on elsewhere and was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and kidney failure. Rodriguez feels Palacios didn’t listen to her or her husband’s concerns, didn’t sound the necessary alarms, never apologized, and didn’t even show to the funereal – though that part was probably for the best since she’s not sure how she would’ve reacted. Pasala writes Omar Palacios was recommended to CMLL by Brazo de Oro and believes he is technically a physical therapist, not a doctor. They also pass on a rumor that Palacios was close to being removed from his position, but was saved when the Lutteroths took control of the company from Sofia Alonso.

CMLL has an interview with Rayo de Jalisco about the 64th Anniversary of Arena Mexico (which is today.) It is unclear why Julio Cesar Rivera is traveling to Arena Mexico to have video interviews with people not at Arena Mexico. There’s also a 100 questions with Soberano segment.

Arena Mexico reaches 64 years of life today. Ovaciones has a bit of history about the opening on the building, on a Saturday in 1956. There’s a great bit about how they test the resistance of the building. The current capacity of 16,750. The original Arena Mexico (originally Arena Modelo) is listed at 4,500 people. CMLL is also starting a video series.

Marca has an interview with Cinta de Oro/Sin Cara, about a wide range of topics. He says he left WWE because he didn’t feel he was getting any opportunities. He does appreciate other latinos have gotten chances and he’s not envious of them. He’s asked if there is racism in WWE and says he doesn’t know, but the only Mexican born luchador who’s gotten to the top has been Alberto del Rio and even he had issues dealing with racist behavior. Cinta de Oro says the original Cinta de Oro’s family gave him permission to use the name and he’d have no problem with Cinta de Oro Jr. using it – he wasn’t going to call himself a Junior – and seem to feel the issues have been more Cinta de Oro Jr/Steven Juarez using it for publicity. Cinta de Oro says there’s are possibility he’ll return to AAA, but he has lots of independent opportunities once the quarantine lifts and would work with CMLL or NJPW if they were interested. Cinta de Oro says he got into four fights while in WWE but everything went back to normal soon after each, and that his son has Olympic wrestling aspirations.

Warrior Steel II (Refugio Duran), passed away Saturday morning. The Warrior Steel (occasionally Steel Warrior or other translations) team worked indies and early matches from both UWA/LLI and CMLL in the early 90s. Furia de Titanes mentions he also used the names of Magnicidio & American Star. Warrior Steel II was most recently the promoter of small arena Arena 2 de Junio in Mexico City. He wrestled there, most recently on March 8th. Warrior Steel II is also the father of current CMLL luchador Volcano, who was previously wrestling as Warrior Steel Jr.

Tamaulipas luchador Flash (Felix Guerrero Aguilar) has passed away. Box Y Lucha also reports Isaias Noriega Alcantara, a photographer for various magazines, passed away last Monday at the age of 69.

Box Y Lucha has been posting old columns from Dr. Rafael Olivera Figueroa, who passed away recently. It’s a fantastic use of their archives. One of the ones from this weekend is the story of the first time he meant Antonio Pena.

The stories on Hijo del Soberano and Puebla’s Gato Gris making face masks have gone viral. The demand for Soberano’s mask is so high that he’s been able to buy another machine and hire two more people.

Ring of Honor has a video of Dragon Lee talking about his masks.

Segunda Caida writes about LA Park vs PCO from MLW.

DTU’s Black Fire is going to be doing a training seminar on the promotion’s Facebook tomorrow at 8 pm.

The Fuerza Guerrera Jr. lead 05/01 empty arena show is now a 50 pesos PPV, though it appears that may be a recommended and not required price. No matches announced.

+LuchaTV will be airing a Tijuana empty arena show on May 3rd.

An interview with Morelos’ Magic Boy.

Dr. Morales talks about Mil Mascaras’ career. I have hot takes on Mil Mascaras’ career after reading through those magazines but those must be saved for another time.

NVI Noticas has a slight history of luchadoras in Oaxaca.

Both the Tampico “empty arena show” (backyard match) and the Arena Union Veracruz empty arena shows are up on Facebook.

The second episode of Lucha Fighter airs Saturday at 8pm CT. It’s billed as live and listed on YouTube as airing live, though it is believed to be taped already. AAA has indicated Nino Hamburguesa, Myzteziz, Lady Maravilla, and Lady Shani will be on the show. Octagon Jr., Chessman, and Pagano have also been announced for the tournament and haven’t wrestled on the men’s side, so they’re probably in action. Matches are unclear, though that’s maybe the idea if they’re going to do fan polls. How fan polls are going to work for matches that have been taped is above my pay grade.

On Keepin’ It 100, the hosts discussed the first Lucha Fighter show. AAA was held to a 25 people in the building rule for the show, which dashed a plan to have people around ringside cheering as AEW has done. Konnan booked the show from home though he indicated this isn’t the first time he’s been working on AAA show while not being there. He’s had situations where he sent in voice messages for each match on the AAA card while at an Impact event. Konnan intentionally kept the Lucha Fighter matches short, both to keep people interested and because a lot of people were coming off a month of not wrestling. Mr. Iguana/Wanger did good numbers, as well as the idea of voting for matches.

The Fantamsa remasking comes up in terms of Disco being amazed Fantasma got paid big money to lose his mask in Mexico and then just gets to put it back on in the US. Konnan’s asked about how those mask losses happen with top stars; he says it’s a negotiation (not an order) and a tough negotiation when it came to Fantasma. In general, it’s typically the wrestler telling a promotion they’d be willing to lose their mask at any time and the promoter getting back to them to hash out the details (time & money) if they want to proceed, though there’s also sometimes where a promotion will make the offer to the wrestler first. That scenario costs more, though typically a promotion is only going to approach someone they believe would be willing to lose for the right price.

Debate has an interview with Mr. Iguana, as part of a series in checking in with how people in different lines of work are doing during the pandemic. He says he had five minutes notice he was going to have the match with Wagner, due to the fan vote, but both really enjoyed it. Iguana says they were all kept separate while waiting to wrestle and the place was disinfected regularly. Iguana says AAA is paying their wrestlers under contract.

Cody Rhodes was answering text messages from fans yesterday. A person got through to ask if AEW would be doing more with AAA, and Cody said he hopes that travel and border issues would be smoother after the crisis passed. Also, “I really like Taurus!”

SuperLuchas has an interview with Hector Guzman, who’s been doing a lot of press to get his donations drive going. (That’s a smart thing to do.) They have been told the building is recommended to be closed for three or four months, “we’ll have to wait until practically August to hold the Anniversary show.” That is notable because of Lucha Memes continuing to promote a show on July 5th in Arena Lopez Mateos (and seemingly selling tickets for the show.) It seems highly unlikely that show will take place on that date given what Guzman says here, but maybe Lucha Memes knows something we don’t or Guzman hasn’t talked to Memes about the situation recently.

The donations Guzman is looking for would go to help fund the Arena Lopez Matoes anniversary show; Guzman says Blue Demon, LA Park and Hijo de LA Park vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. and Galeno del Mal was the planned main event, with people who had made their name internationally but had not been seen in that arena later also being used. They’ve been turned down when asking to run empty arena shows. Arena Lopez Mateos still has maintenance people coming to a couple of days a week, never more than two at a time, to clean, repair and paint. They also want to buy things to improve sanitary conditions when they can run (antibacterial gel dispensers, temperature gauges come up.) Guzman is also considering limiting all shows to two and half hours or less, feeling there’s less a risk of contamination than with the shows going three or four hours like normal.

other empty arena shows

• California’s Hex Wrestling Promotion has their second empty arena show today. They’re specifically asking for no money for this one.
• A Veracruz promotion is also running a show live on Facebook tonight.
• Another Veracruz group will have a two match show for donations on Sunday
• Fuerza Guerrera Jr. is running a show on his Facebook on 05/01. No matches announced. CMLL luchadors Shocker and Blue Panther Jr. are pictured, which would be a rare (maybe first) appearance by a CMLL luchador on a show like this. Joe Lider is also pictured, so CMLL may nix it for that reason.

Segunda Caida goes back to 2012 for a Black Terry/Chico Che match.

Box Y Lucha has a 2006 interview with Rambo.