Lucha Memes show tomorrow afternoon, other empty arena content

Mexico starts daylight savings time Sunday. This seems like a big deal a month ago. It’s pretty much irrelevant today, except that means the Lucha Memes show “2 pm” start on Sunday means 2 pm in US Central Time as well. Here’s the announced lineup for the show that’ll stream on +LuchaTV

Lucha Memes (SUN) 04/05/2020 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) La Heroína vs InfestLunatik Extreme
2) Garrobo & Gremlin vs Diosa Quetzal & Hahastary
3) Alas de Acero & Iron Kid vs Cobre & Moria
4) Black Terry vs Perro De Guerra Jr.
5) Corsario Negro & Drako vs Arkángel Divino & Último Maldito
6) Psicosis II vs Toxin
7) Ricky Marvin vs Arez

An interview with Daniel Ledesma about this Lucha Memes show got picked up by a lot of news sites. Ledesma says the local government is OK with the show.

The newest plan for the show is “wrestle and leave.” Only a referee, two camera people and the owner of the arena (Justiciero) inside Coliseo Coacalco for the whole show. Wrestlers will be given call times, will arrive in their gear, wrestle their matches, leave, and then they’ll send the next match in. That seems to suggest no announcers and far fewer people than those who were around in the Lucha Libre Vanguardia show. They’re also cleaning the ropes and the mat. The money donated for the show will be split evenly between all performers, and anyone who has any symptoms will be told not to attend and paid anyway.

Lucha Libre Vanguardia‘s note about their show thanks Mullme, Franky Paletas Original, and Gym Ramses for their support. My suspicion is some or all of those people paid for the show and that’s why there was little push for donations.

Empty arena shows breed more empty arena shows. Kaoz posted an empty arena show late Friday night, which they said they had taped prior to the pandemic (and the local ban on empty arena shows) in what appears to be the Lucha Time arena. It’s hard to figure out why Kaoz would’ve been taping empty arena shows before now. Sin Piedad, a Mexico State promotion who debuted back in March, will air an empty arena fans show on Facebook Monday night. This show was said to be taped sometime in March. There are some names you may have seen on other Mexico State names but it’s a lot of people unfamiliar to me. Not sure if that’s good or bad, just unfamiliar.

CMLL is also still bringing in people to Arena Mexico to do interviews. CMLL tends to pay per appearance, not just matches, so I wonder if these interviews are ways to create some paydays. NGD (with Forastero calling in) did a half hour interview about their career. Avispa Dorada talked about trying to do some virtual personal training – you can find more on her Facebook – to pick up extra work when both her normal jobs are not available. Dorada says the only thing she’s been told by the US embassy is US citizens needed to either leave (a while back) or understand they’ll be on their own in Mexico for the time being. Dorada is from Washington, and doesn’t believe it made sense to return to a place dealing with the worst of the outbreak.

Diamante similarly is away from home during the pandemic. He talked to his hometown paper about Dragon Gate not running many shows – he lost in a challenge for NOAH’s tag team titles on a closed arena show early Saturday – but says the company is taking good care of them.

Luchador Yerba Brava talk about being a nurse during this crisis.

Record interviewed Maximo about reaching 20 years of his career. This seems to include his pre-Maximo work, though he’s been around a long time now. Maximo explains the original idea for the name was for a super masculine Ivan Drago style character, but it ended up going the opposite way when he changed to an exotico character in training. (In other interviews, he’s explained he was doing it as a comedy bit and others told him he was actually good at it.) Maximo says his family wasn’t a fan of him doing that character at first. His father Brazo de Plata was upset Maximo had never told him he was gay, while Brazo de Oro claimed he always knew Maximo “was locked in the closet.” (He’s not gay.)

Periodico La Voz interviews the original Mascarita Sagrada, who was a high school student and Kung Fu practitioner when he went to a lucha libre gym with a friend in Puebla. His friend said he was training for lucha, got Sagrada to sign up, and then the friend never actually signed up. That’s a swerve. Sagrada mentions the Agulitia Solitaria became Chucky (probably one of many.)

Miguel Reducindo writes about the Blue Panther vs Love Machine feud, wonders why CMLL doesn’t treat Panther as a star on the same level as Atlantis & Negro Casas.

Zona 23’s latest show will air on IWTV this Sunday at 12:30 pm. It’ll be preceded by a 15 minute documentary about the promotion.

Dos Hermanos Lucha has a quick interview with MexaBoys’ Noisy Boy.

Box Y Lucha reposted an old interview with Emilio Charles Jr.

CMLL is starting a video series on the history of Arena Coliseo.

Segunda Caida reviews some 1990 UWA.