Month: September 2020

CMLL is about four weeks into the restart. They’re airing at least four shows a week (it’s CMLL, it’s possible there are more shows they just haven’t advertised), so a lot of matches have aired, and we can start to get a sense of who’s around and who isn’t. I’ve got a list of luchadors who were listed on CMLL cards in February and March and haven’t popped up yet. I’ve cut out the visiting Guadalajara and Japanese wrestlers, and this is what’s left:

midcarders: Fuego, Mascara 2000, Misterioso, Shocker, Universo 2000 Jr., Volcano

Mascara 2000 & Shocker may not be medically cleared to participate in the current conditions. Misterioso (Torreon) & Fuego (Oaxaca) probably are back in their home states for the moment. I do worry we might not see Fuego again, given the past mutual unhappiness between himself and CMLL. Volcano & Universo are mysteries.

puebla: Arkalis, Pegasso, Stigma

Puebla’s not so long a drive that I’m still a bit surprised these guys haven’t shown up at all.

minis: Acero, Fantasy, Kaligua, Pequeno Nitro, Pequeno Olimpico (he appeared), Pequeno Universo 2000, Pequeno Violencia, Shockercito

CMLL’s not interested in booking minis matches in the best of times, though it’s not a great sign when the champion isn’t even getting booked. It was surprising when Mercurio turned up last week. It may take the return of Tuesday or Sundays shows for these guys to get work.

micros: Atomo, Mije, Zacarias el Perico, Guapito, Gallito

Gallito might not be traveling in from Guadalajara. CMLL’s not using seconds – no KeMonito either – and many of these micros do not seem like a good bet for the singles matches they’ve mostly given prelim acts. There also may be health concerns.

women: Avispa Dorada, La Comandante, La Magnifica, La Seductora, La Vaquerita, Mystique, Silueta, Stephanie Vaquer, Skadi

Avispa Dorada seemed to relocate back to the US during the shutdown. I hope we get to see her again but who knows how things work out. La Magnifica & Silueta just haven’t been brought in from Guadalajara yet but would figure to be in the tag team tournament. Vaquer may have to be considered Mexican to have enough healthy people for that tournament. I guess we technically haven’t gotten Lluvia in a match also yet but you know that one. Mystique has been doing press but not wrestling.

prelims: Apocalipsis, Artillero, Bengala, Cholo, Electrico, Espanto Jr., Halcon Suriano Jr., Hijo del Signo, Inquisidor, Leono, Magnus, Starman

CMLL has a lot of prelim guys. A lot of older prelim guys that probably wouldn’t be missed if some of the people training in the gym forever got their spots. (It means something to someone that Grako & Coyote were brought back these names.) Magnus may not be in Mexico City. Halcon Suriano Jr. is another out of towner.

pending debuts/returns: Astral, Gemelo Diablos, Mascara 2000 Jr.

All these people were introduced on Informa as coming soon after the restart. Not totally soon, I guess. The Gemelo Diablos are the Gemelos Panteras, who live in northern Mexico. Mascara 2000 Jr. may have been introduced well before he was actually ready to debut. Astral is the mystery guy, but he may be no more important than the ones in the last category.

CMLL will have Diamante Azul, Terrible, Templario, Reyna Isis, Tiffany, Raziel, and Cancerbero on CMLL Informa. Tiffany is likely in the first block of the women’s tag team tournament if she’s on this show. I assume they’ll also have the reveal for the CMLL lineup this Friday since it still hasn’t released one. CMLL’s dropped the ball by not getting a card out to capitalize on whatever momentum they had for the tournament; there’s no reason to wait until Wednesday outside of waiting for COVID results (and even then, they could announce changes in the same way they did for Anniversario.) Waiting to announce the card on Informa, a small portion of their potential audience is yet another sign they’re only expecting the people who pay for anything CMLL to buy these shows.

If you’re in Mexico City and want to see Psycho Clown or Murder Clown, maybe go to a show the first weekend of AutoLuchas and not the second. Both Clowns headline a show in Dallas, Texas on October 10th. It’d be tough to get back to Mexico City for all but maybe the evening AutoLuchas show on Sunday. I thought maybe this was just an out of date poster, but there’s a (seemingly) new Psycho Clown poster promoting this show.

Ovaciones talked to Reyna Isis about her title win and mentioned the teams for the upcoming tournament are still not clear. That tournament starts in two days. CMLL seems to be going with the “y” version of her name (not “Reina”) as of late.

ESTO follows Atlantis Jr. on a recent Turiluchas bus trip. The article talks about it being the first trip, so this must’ve happened a few weeks ago (and wasn’t the anniversary show.) Those buses seat between 100-150 people; the article says they had “five couples” on Atlantis’ trip. The person in charge says they expected just three or four people, so ten is considered a positive start. The fans on the bus watch the CMLL show on a screen at a brewery; they get three beers as part of the package. It does seem like they’re watching inside, though it’s an open-air building.

Villano IV told a YouTube collector that their famous mask design was inspired by the cartoon Birdman. Not the title character, but X the Eliminator, whose color scheme and X looks similar to the Villanos mask. As I type this, I’m vaguely remembering having typed this story all before and forgot about it until now. Villano I and II originally had a different design, but they were told it was too close to Solitario’s. In his other work, Villano II came up with the look everyone associates Los Villanos with every since. The numbers on the gear only came when they started appearing on TV, a request of the announcers to help keep them straight. The video’s actual purpose was Villano IV selling the Brazo de Plata mask he won in Monterrey to the collector.

Dave the Clown led Milenio through the (rough) neighborhood where he grew up. He says of about 30 fans he had growing up, 28 are dead.

Tormento says he was skeptical of how many people actually had COVID-19 before he came down with it. So was his doctor: he was originally diagnosed with a cold when he came in with a cough. It was only a few days later, when the symptoms got worse, where they approved a COVID test for him and found he had it. He currently has no smell or taste and occasionally headaches.

Mexico City luchador KFU (31) passed away Monday in Cuautla. He was a CMLL trained luchador (under Arkangel) who only got to wrestler in a CMLL ring on a Dragonmania show a few years ago.

Tijuana luchador Depreador (Marco Mireles, 51) passed away on Tuesday. No cause of death is reported. He was most often seen in the late 90s and early 00s at Auditorio de Tijuana; he had apuesta matches with Rambo (Depredador won) and Blue Demon Jr. (Depredador did not win.)

The Puebla cemitas sandwich vendors still are opening their shop in front of Arena Puebla, though the sales are way down without any shows. Same with the mask vendor.

Rocky Marvin talks about wrestling at a standstill in Veracruz. Like everyone else who is in wrestling, he’s upset that other things have been allowed to return and not them. He says an empty arena show they ran drew one-third the usual gate, so they didn’t try a second.

San Luis Potosi’s Arena Margarita was closed indefinitely on Sunday, by the local directorate of commerce, because lucha libre functions are not currently authorized. The promoter of Sunday’s event says that’s not true and they have a permit from the same directorate, and they’re totally going to run this upcoming Sunday. I assume they’re going to run unless someone shows up to keep the door shut. This controversy does help clarify what’s going on with this building generally: there are actually two different promotions, and they alternate months. One is named Marka, one is named Marca. That is about as confusing as you can get. It’s the Marka shows that are being shut down; the Marca ones seemed like they were running without a problem previously.

10/17 MexaWrestling “Mexa War II” at Arena San Juan

• Fly Star, Lunatik Extreme, Sobredosis vs Joe Lider, Ciclope, Miedo Extremo
• Leon Dorado Jr. & Centvrion vs Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr. – new

CMLL Lady’s Ring would’ve originally had an event today with Mystique, Microman, and Chamuel. That’s not possible, so they instead held a talk show with Tae Honma and Tsukushi talking about their experiences in Mexico. Ticket purchasers also got a DVD of the two women’s matches from the Anniversary show.

El Zocalo interviews Jerry Estrada about his CMLL Light Heavyweight title win over Pierroth, 29 years ago.

Mas Lucha has a column critical of fans at the MexaWrestling show for ignoring all health guidance, sitting in seats they weren’t allowed, and refusing to wear masks.

Legend is running an open-air Lucha Fan Fest on 11/01. No names have been announced.

This week’s En+carados talks about the CMLL Anniversario show.

I appeared on the Winter Palace podcast talking about the CMLL Aniversario show.

Lineups

REX (SAT) 10/03/2020 Centro de Alto Rendimento The Crash, Ecatepec, Estado de México
1) Dragón Boy vs Falcón Fire, Skyler, Perseo
2) Lilith Dark vs Gatubela, Starfire
3) Gasparín & Símbolo Azteca vs Diosa Quetzal & Tromba
4) Draztick Boy vs Séptimo Dragón, Príncipe Aéreo
5) Halloween vs Miedo Extremo, Fly Star, Cíclope

A new promotion, and one I can’t even find the Facebook page for. It’s not listed on the poster because why would it be. This looks like a Vanguardia show, but the gimmicks is the promotion is doing a cross over show with Vangurida on it’s very first event. Who is actually in REX? What is REX? No idea. Starting a promotion when you can’t go more than 30% capacity means you’re not in it for the money, at the least. Tickets are 200 pesos, which is also still somehow expensive for this arena.

IWRG (SUN) 10/04/2020 Arena Naucalpan
Festival de Mascaras, 2020
1) Mexica vs Dick Angelo 3G
2) Diosa Quetzal, Jessy Ventura, Shil-Kha vs Diosa Atenea, Fulgor I, Zoy Raymunda
3) Black Warrior & Guerrero Maya Sr. vs Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47 and Cerebro Negro & Relámpago
4) Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Trauma I & Trauma II
5) Dr. Wagner Jr., Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus vs Demonio Infernal, Fresero Jr., Máscara Año 2000 Jr.

The third match is a special “lots of people remarked”, but it otherwise feels like a normal show plus Dr. Wagner. “Also, Dr. Wagner” seems like the hook for a lot of indie pay content, possibly because he’s one of the few true big names who are available right now. The sort of legend who’d normally be brought back for this show may not be able to safely wrestle right now. It is a good this is an additional show on Mas Lucha’s premium service and not a stand-alone PPV because it doesn’t feel big.

The new name for the no longer endorsed “Máscara Año 2000 Jr.” appears to be Máscara Año 2000 Junior. I guess this is only confusing if the new one actually wrestlers.

LLB (SAT) 10/31/2020 Arena Lopez Mateos
1) Aguilita Oriental, Chinacito, Demonio Gato vs Especie Maligna, Kid Jaguar, Sumed Black
2) Brazo de Platino Jr., Divino, Espartano vs Juan Diego, Ninja de Fuego, Randy
3) Ángel o Demonio, Ovett, Pinochito vs Demus 3:16, Fantasma de la Ópera, Súper Comando
4) Dragón, Hijo Del Impostor, LA Park Jr. vs Herodes Jr., Hijo del Pirata Morgan, Lunatik Extreme
5) Hijo de LA Park & LA Park vs ? & Joe Lider

A very Lucha Libre Boom show. If it doesn’t make sense for CMLL guys to be coming from Guadalajara and Puebla to work CMLL shows, how are the Juarez guys (Dragon, Hijo del Impostor) affordable for so many Mexico State shows?

BELLO (SAT) 11/14/2020 Auditorio Benito Juárez, Veracruz, Veracruz
1) Emperador, Poseidón Jr., Tigre de Bronce vs Demente, Explosivo I, Explosivo II, Flash
3 vs 4?
2) Hijo Del Rey Pantera & Rey Pantera vs Consquistador & Tiburón Jarocho
3) Baronessa & Hija De La Gatubela vs Diosa Quetzal & Lady Pink
4) Hijo del Tirantes, Poseidón, Rey Infierno vs Alas de Oro, Alas De Plata, Súper Nova (Indie)
5) Flamita, Laredo Kid, Puma King vs Dragón Bane, Hijo de Canis Lupus, Último Legendario
6) Wotan vs Joe Lider, Hijo del Fishman, Demus

This card replaces the Wotan/Hijo del Fishman mask match, originally scheduled in Xalapa for June and now postponed to sometime in 2021.

Vanguardia (SAT) 09/19/2020 Estadio Primero de Mayo, Tulancingo, Hidalgo [Mas Lucha]
1) Alfa Jr., Aster Boy, Dayami b Amnesia, Misionero, Zuzu Divine
2) Billy Gamer, Dark Biker, Murdock b Caballero de Atena & Dragón Boy
3 vs 2
3) Gasparín & Símbolo Azteca © COR Drolux & Moria [BMLL TAG]
4) Crazy King b Látigo, Lobo Blanco Jr. [VANGUARDIA 4X4]
Crazy King beat Lobo Blanco to retain, then vacated the title, then  Santy Hernandez beat up a staff member and declared him champion.
5) Falcón Fire b Oriental, Arez, Draztick Boy [BMLL CRUISER]
Falcon Fire beat Draztick Boy in a big upset to win the title. Calibus became the latest ex-DTU wrestler to debut here, challenging for the next shot.
6) Jitsu & Santy Hernández b Cíclope & Miedo Extremo [explosion]
Ciclope was hurt after being thrown from a truck and Santy Hernandez couldn’t make it back to the ring, which left Jitsu alone to pull the upset win on Miedo with a bat and explosives.

This was the iPPV that aired Sunday. There didn’t seem to be much talk about it from what I saw, though Vanguardia posted some photos of people who were watching on their Facebook page so maybe I’m just missing it. It reads like they made an effort to put different people over. They introduced the Vanguardia Tag Team Championship, which makes three (Black Mask, GCW) tag belts in this promotion. Maybe that’ll be narrowed down by the time that gets decided. Vanguardia’s next idea is an outdoor socially distanced show sometime next month.

IWRG (SUN) 09/27/2020 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha, R de Rudo]
1) Maradó b Chicanito  
2) Dick Angelo 3G & Shil-Kha b Atomik Star & Legendario  
3) Diosa Atenea & Fulgor b Alas De Plata & Diosa Quetzal  
4) Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal b Karaoui & Veneno and Hijo del Alebrije & Relámpago  
Ventura hit hard on the ground on the Alebrije tope but finished the match
5) Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr. DQ Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG IC TAG, #1 Contenders, semifinal]  
Canis Lupus hit the referee for the DQ

The undercard sounds like it went well. The main event was one of those matches where participants take photos of their bruised up chests afterward to talk about how real lucha libre is. Canis Lupus tried to dropkick Fresero Jr. into light tubes, Fresero dodged but the referee wandered away and went into light tubes, the second referee (?) let the match go until Canis Lupus got the pin, then got the DQ. File that with the Dalys/Marcela finish. Demonio Infernal & Fresero face the winner of Los Traumas & Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal.

Next week’s IWRG show is their Festival of Mascaras show (everyone’s allowed to wrestle in their mask). It’ll include Dr. Wagner Jr. and it will only be on the Mas Lucha Premium service. That’s the first IWRG show to go that way.

Jean Montanez defeated Hijo del Pirata Morgan for his hair on Saturday’s Pro Wrestling Resurrection show. That seems beneath Pirata Morgan but at least the Montanez are said to pay pretty well.

San Luis Potosi state Arena Margarita got attention a couple of months ago for running a packed show when no shows were to be allowed. Everyone passed the blame on how it was even allowed, the arena ran a couple closed building shows, and then just went back to doing what they were before. I guess someone just noticed this weekend; there were threats of the building being shut down if they ran their show Saturday.

San Luis Potosi promoter Rayo de Plata uploaded a video asking that the local government allow them to start running again, arguing they only usually draw 50 people in an 800 person building.

A profile of young Chetumal luchador Guerrero Galactico Jr.

NVT Noticas has a bio of Oaxaca luchador La Llorona, who started in 1974.

Lucha Talk talks about the CMLL Aniversario.

Box Y Lucha 3441 covers the CMLL Aniversario.

Lineups

Lucha Memes (SUN) 10/04/2020 Coliseo Coacalco, Coacalco, Estado de México
1) Judas el Traidor vs Crazy King
2) Aeroboy vs Ricky Marvin
3) Sádico vs Perro De Guerra Jr. [Battle of Coacalco, quarterfinal]
4) Arez vs Blazer [Battle of Coacalco, quarterfinal]
5) Taurus (Indie) vs Fly Star [Battle of Coacalco, quarterfinal]
6) Látigo vs Garrobo Punk [Battle of Coacalco, quarterfinal]
7) ? vs ?? [Battle of Coacalco, semifinal]
8) ? vs ?? [Battle of Coacalco, semifinal]
9) ? vs ?? [Battle of Coacalco, final]

All four first-round matches are touring indy guys versus lesser-known people. Taurus/Fly Star is the closest thing to an exception, but it’s still a pretty big gap. Someone’s going to have to pull a big upset to make this less obvious.

CMLL (FRI) 09/25/2020 Arena México [CMLL, El Universal, ESTO, Factor4tro, Lucha Central, Marca, Mas Lucha, Ovaciones, R de Rudo, thecubsfan, Voices of Wrestling]
CMLL 87th Aniversario
1) Chamuel © b Microman [CMLL MICROS] 
13:14, Chamuel winning clean via modified standing surfboard. First defense since belt was decided.
2) Titán © b Soberano Jr. [CMLL WELTER] 
25:24. Titan wins clean with El Inmortal. First defense. Replaces a Guerreros vs Hechicero/Terrible/Templario (in for Cavernario) CMLL TRIOS match.
3) Reina Isis b La Metálica © [MEX WOMEN] 
17:19. Reina Isis is the 21st modren champion. Metalica falls on 3rd defense, first since last year’s Aniversario. Reyna Isis replaced Lluvia.
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © b Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus [MEX TRIOS] 
17:07. 15th defense (previous announced 15th defense was canceled)
5) Marcela © DQ Dalys [CMLL WOMEN] 
14:45. Dalys cleanly submitted Marcela to a scorpion deathlock, but the finish was reversed to a DQ when Dalys didn’t let go after a (rapid) five count. Sixth defense for Marcela. Dalys replaced Princesa Sugehit.
6) Volador Jr. © b Templario [NWA WELTER] 
19:35 after a poison rana. Sixth defense. Templario replaced Bandido.
7) Carístico & Místico © b Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [CMLL TAG] 
13:22 via double Mistica. Second defense for the Misticos.

If this show had to happen, and with this lineup, it was one of the best possible versions of his show. Most matches were as good or better than expected.

AtrapaSuenos got to have their Aniversario main event moment, but it didn’t feel close to level of the usual Aniversario match. It was instead a relatively straightforward tag match where the challengers never felt close to winning. (Part of the issue is the Misticos are never going to lose without at least trying La Mistica, and they weren’t going to allow these two to escape the first shot at that.) Cometa’s big spot, the Brillo Cometa, went very badly but the match otherwise held together fine. Espiritu Negro proved doubters wrong by hanging well here.

Volador & Templario came out with such a fast pace that it seemed like maybe they were getting cut on time, but they were just working face. A credit they could keep it together for so long given how they worked. The pace helped a bunch; it turned into the usual Volador big match fall trading, but at least the pauses between moves were going quicker (and it didn’t stick out that they were trading moves as much.) Templario looked really good and like there’s still another level to unlock with his athleticism. Volador should be asking to work with him on a regular basis; he was so much better than Gran Guerrero last week.

I misread the situation with the women’s championship so wrong. It had seemed to me that everything fell into place for CMLL: Sugehit going out mean Dalys was in line to get the long-planned title win. It’s now clear that’s not the case; either they’re saving it for Sugehit or otherwise do not want Dalys to have another title. It’s also still clear Dalys absolutely will not take a loss (which is maybe why they can’t put this title on her.) The finish played out like an unfair Olimpico call screwing the ruda, which makes no sense and wasn’t entertaining. This is a pattern with Dalys, who had a similar awful finish last year in an apparent attempt to get out of doing a clean job. There’s no other man or woman in CMLL who is so frequently involved in these sorts of things, which suggests Dalys probably wouldn’t still be in CMLL if she didn’t have connections. I presume she’ll be in the tag team tournament too, so it’ll be fascinating to see how CMLL handles it if she’s not scheduled to win that one either.

Dalys got a lot of negative comments about both getting the title match and her performance in it on social media. She melted down in a Facebook post while declaring this would be the last time she would respond to criticism. Dalys stated she really is the best wrestler because she’s won two titles and had may defenses, apparently treating her championship wins as shoot victories. That’s a weird attempt to win an argument with a fanbase that still goes along with kayfabe for the most part, but it doesn’t even make sense that way – Amapola or Marcela should be considered the best if we’re counting titles won. This is probably not the last time we’ll hear Dalys complain about complaints, since she’s now going through her comments and reading each one to give a thumbs up to a positive ones (and maybe hiding the negatives.)

There were some brief shining moments for mean old Cancerberos against NGD, culminating when Cancebero became (maybe) the first guy to break up the Capault Dinamita by just dropkicking them to pieces. The Cancerberos usual match (fight rough against the kids) was a lot more appealing than the NGD usual match (run through the same sequences every week) and this was little more than taking turns in those match styles. It worked better in the parts where the old rudos were in control. Raziel, Cancerbero & Virus felt the moment and tried to make something of this, even if the NGD didn’t bring much creative energy. It delivered on the oddness of the show, even if the match itself was just OK.

Reyna Isis & La Metalica were in a very hard position to follow the previous match and compounded it by not doing a whole lot interesting in the first five minutes. I think it was a product of wanting to have a lengthy match, but cutting it down by a third would’ve made a bit more exciting. Neither woman truly committed to playing the tecnico role in this match, and neither would’ve been all that experienced in it had they tried, so they just did a lot of moves instead. There was an occasional moment where they got lost or it felt they were going very slow to telegraph spots, but it was overall solid. Metalica had a better night than last year for sure. Reyna Isis has been positioned the highest of the younger crew and makes more sense as champion. Still not sure what’s going to happen when Lluvia returns.

Last year best CMLL singles matches always involved two of Soberano, Titan and Cavernario (or someone’s career on the line.) Cavernario is gone, probably for the year. There’s probably not going to be a hair or mask match, and the career bit is unlikely to happen again. I don’t think any new combination is beating the match Soberano and Titan had on this show, because they beat what they did last year. Both are working this even smarter and harder than they had both, giving a full house effort in front of no fans. Both are putting more thoughts in how to get into moves and how to changes up usual routines, keeping these matches much fresher than the usual top CMLL matches. Soberano specifically looks like a more well rounded and interesting wrestler when he has these matches with Titan than he does against any other opponent. That’s a credit to Titan, absolutely one of the best wrestlers in Mexico who doesn’t get a chance to show it because his promotion gives him so few opportunities. Hopefully, we’ll get more big match Titan with CMLL doing more singles matches in this new format. (The pessimistic feeling is we better enjoy this, because CMLL/Dragon Lee and COVID issues might make it tough for Titan to get to do some BOSJ work this year.)

Chamuel worked so hard in the opener, coming off as a monster while also setting up Microman for his big spots. The timing on the headscissors off the lightboard was perfect, and he’s always doing that. Microman deserves his share of credit too, but he seemed off of peak condition and tired quickly. The title match falls apart with any other micro rudo on the roster than Chamuel, and all the best future matches involve him too. It would’ve been a mistake if he had lost and I was impressed when they gave him a clean win.

This show did not feel like an Aniversario show, from the presentation to the lack of fans to the lack of general interest. An all fan-voted champions show did feel like a worthwhile concept, though. CMLL’s looking for as many themed shows as possible in general, so bringing this back as a concept once a year during an otherwise quiet month is a good idea. They may want to cut down to six or five title matches instead to shorten the show, but both the title matches picked by fans will get over and will create new matchups every year. This should be brought back some time in 2021.

CMLL didn’t really address the COVID-19 situation outside of a couple of shows of a man with a leafblower cleaning championship belts. Seems like a Clorox wipe would be easier there. It would’ve been simple for CMLL to say “everyone on the show passed their COVID-19 tests today, all the matches are still on, enjoy the show!” but CMLL doesn’t think in terms of getting people to like them. The concern about the situation was loud enough for Leo Riano to reference it in his weekly column, though he also dismissed the idea of a postponement without a second thought. Hopefully is everyone is OK. In reality, since CMLL is announcing one lineup a week and only a few days in advance, it’ll be very easy for people to just disappear from lineups for a while if something happens with them. We only found out the positives tests we did because CMLL had to explain why they were off the Aniversario card, and they might not say anything if they’re off pulled off lineup or not listed entirely.

Heavyweight Title Change as an afterthought

There was only one title change on this show, but there were two title changes on the night. The CMLL show airing on AXS TV also had a title change.

CMLL , AMX (FRI) 09/25/2020 Arena México
1) Nitro b Retro 
Nitro took 1/3
2) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Stuka Jr. b Ephesto, Luciferno, Mephisto 
Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Diamante Azul b Terrible © [MEX HEAVY] 
Diamante Azul is the new champion

CMLL did not advertise this match was happening and did not acknowledge the change until the next day (only then promoting the Sunday replay.) This is strange on so many levels: there was a long build to Diamante Azul finally winning this title (or any heavyweight title) and it finally happened without a noise. Why not do this on the bigger TV show? why didn’t they save it for one of the PPVs if they’re downplaying TV? Does the CMLL social media have no idea what’s going to air and when? It feels like there should be someone paid by CMLL to keep track of what is airing and what needs to be hyped, and it also seems like no one is doing that job.

Likewise, CMLL appears to have accidentally skipped an episode of the shows they’re airing on YouTube. They should be airing the show with the Atlantis/Flyer vs Tiger/Villano III title match, but instead are showing a different set of matches tomorrow. I guess that match will just never air, or maybe they’ll figure it out next week.

CMLL October PPV pricing

CMLL and Ticketmaster put virtual tickets on sale for the October shows. It’s a complex nest of individual shows and packages that could’ve used an explanation. What I’ve figured out

• There are five shows, up from four last month, still all on Fridays
• The Women’s Tag Team Tournament final (10/16) and the Dia del Muertos show (10/30) are premium shows at 287.50 pesos each
• The other three shows are 113.75 pesos each.
• The full month package is 687.50 pesos
• There’s also a women’s tag team tournament package covering just the first three weeks for 412.15 pesos.

There’s a little bit of money to be saved by just purchasing the Dia del Muertos show and the Women’s Tag Team tournament (which could include some missing Aniversario title matches) over the entire month package. You should get the monthly package if you’re looking to watch any more than that.

You can see the comparison to last month here; the shorter version are prices are up across the boards. It seems very weird that it’ll cost more to watch the women tag team tournament than the Aniversario, but this is more CMLL & Ticketmaster seeing how high a price they can get away with. CMLL always did actual real tickets variable pricing on tickets, so it shouldn’t be too big of a surprise they’re doing it now.

It still feels pricey. A month of CMLL is still cheaper than a single AEW PPV, but $30 USD of shows is much more expensive than any streaming service. The prices going up suggest CMLL and TicketMaster saw plenty of people buying. The situation has changed – this isn’t the Aniversario, fans have had a month to experience the good and the bad of the streaming, and there isn’t a giant long gap without new CMLL. Either wrestling content has generally underpriced themselves in Mexico if this works for CMLL, or we’re going to see something much different down the line.

(There’s usually some people who are contacting Ticketmaster on Twitter due to an issue with not getting the right link to the stream on all Friday night shows, but there were an awful lot of them last night. The advantage with Ticketmaster for CMLL is there was actually someone there to solve the problems and most people seemed to be able to get to the show eventually. They still missed part of the show they could never watch again and may see that as a reason not to spend again.)

I may need to enact a fee for any “hey, I didn’t pay for the show/no VOD is a problem for me” related inquiries starting October 1st.

Other Lucha Libre notes

There’s a lot of PPV lucha libre content this weekend

• Pro Wrestling Resurrection is offering the Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs Jean Montanez for an 80 peso Facebook PPV.
• Legend is doing a two show Facebook PPV package for 250 pesos, with the first event taking place tonight at 7pm.
• MexaWrestling’s show from last weekend debuts on Mas Lucha’s Premium service Saturday
• Vanguardia has a 150 pesos Facebook PPV on Sunday, a taped show from last weekend

Mas Lucha seems to have a hand in all four of these, either just taping them all the way to broadcasting them. I was curious if they’d promote the one on their own service the most. Instead, it’s all been about equal, with perhaps the Vanguardia show getting the most attention.

I think I’ve donated for every free Vanguardia show and won’t be getting this one because they’re not offering a Paypal option and I don’t want to deal with Facebook. I don’t think that’s the norm at all though, and they’ll probably make more money this way.

Tormento was scheduled for the Legend show that I think is airing today. (They’re running a live event today, and I’m unclear if that’s the show airing or if it was the one they taped two weeks ago and this one airs later.) Tormento is off the Legend show after a COVID-19 positive test, something the promotion announced in advance. Tormento had symptoms and got his own testing done. He’s not in a big match, he’s in the second match, they just wanted to be up front about it.

The current Exatlon season is bringing people back from past seasons. It won’t include Hijo de Octagon, the endorsed son of Octagon, because he’s still seeking missed pay from years ago and threatening a lawsuit. If I recall right, it was implied there was some issue over the Octagon name involved that.

Salamanca luchador Rey Muerte (Luis Alberto Espinoza) was shot to death on Wednesday  He wrestled for twenty years, became a trainer, and was worked as a wrestling licensing evaluator in his city in addition to his real job (which seems to have included a role in the police.) The article focuses on his wrestling/sports career and nothing on the circumstances of his shooting.

Segunda Caida watches some 1996 CMLL.

 

The CMLL lineup, as it stands at the moment.

CMLL (FRI) 09/25/2020 Arena México
CMLL 87th Aniversario
1) Chamuel © vs Microman [CMLL MICROS]
first defense since belt was decided
2) Titán © vs Soberano Jr. [CMLL WELTER]
First defense. Replaces a Guerreros vs Hechicero/Terrible/Templario (in for Cavernario) CMLL TRIOS match.
3) La Metálica © vs Reina Isis [MEX WOMEN]
3rd defense, first since last year’s Aniversario. Reyna Isis replaced Lluvia.
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus [MEX TRIOS]
15th defense (previous announced 15th defense was canceled)
5) Marcela © vs Dalys [CMLL WOMEN]
sixth defense. Dalys replaced Princesa Sugehit.
6) Volador Jr. © vs Templario [NWA WELTER]
sixth defense. Templario replaced Bandido.
7) Carístico & Místico © vs Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa [CMLL TAG]
second defense

If you’re interested in buying this show, it’s still available on Ticketmaster for about 13 USD. (Price hasn’t gone down, but the peso fell in the last week.) It’s still at 8:30 pm, it’s still live only. I wrote about this show, and my distress over it, over on Voices of Wrestling. That’s a more general wrestling audience and it caused me to think about how they might think about this card: like, not at all. CMLL and Mexico wrestling doesn’t ever get a lot of attention, but this specific Aniversario show exists in worldwide oblivion even beyond the COVID-19 situation. It’s counter-intuitive because CMLL has tried to market the PPVs in Japanese and English, something they’ve never tried before, but it feels like there’s no knowledge of this show existing outside of people who talk about lucha libre all the time. The lack of significant mask or hair match takes away an important hook at a moment when wrestling fans who might take a look at non-WWE wrestling have three different tournaments in Japan to watch or AEW to see. There’s a lot of lucha libre stuff I do with the feeling that if I don’t do it, it’s just not going to be done in English or maybe at all. I didn’t really guess writing about CMLL’s big show would be one of those things.

I am writing about this show. All wrestling feels like some degree of guilty pleasure to me; I’m not as skilled at “separating the people from the art,” and wonder if I’m doing more harm than good by giving some light to people with obvious self-destructive tendencies or bad intentions. This show feels more guilty than most, but I feel some responsibility to follow this all the way through and some resignation that nothing I do or not do is going to make all that much of a difference. Doing stuff because it needs to be done even if you’re not sure it amounts to anything doesn’t really make sense, but that’s where I am most days.

What we do know from this past week is CMLL will announce changes on their own schedule or not at all. I hope these matches happen and I hope they happen because everyone is safe, but it should be no surprise if something gets changed. I’ve seen a few people pushing to get a refund because the card isn’t what was advertised, but I’m not sure if that’s actually working out.

Still seven matches. Everything is one fall, which is going to be weird for everyone. I don’t think the whistle to pinfall time is going to be all that different, but I guess they’ll be able to shave off a couple of minutes of fall breaks per match and that does add up.

Espirtiu Negro & Rey Cometa pulling off the 100 to 1 upset in the main event would make this show memorable and would set up a rematch for next month. That would also give Caristico & Mistico an ongoing story, instead of just a one-off match and back to having no direction. CMLL seems to favor tournaments over storytelling, so it seems unlikely anything is going to happen.

I’m guessing Caristico & Mistico, Volador, NGD, and Titan retain. Both women’s titles will change hands and Microman wins that title as well are my predictions. Soberano/Titan will be the match of the night.

CMLL announced plans for October on Informa. The National Women’s Tag Team Tournament, originally scheduled for March, will take place from October 2nd to the 16th. The original tournament included ten teams, including some people who are with COVID-19 and some who have not appeared since shows resumed. It’s likely the previously announced teams will change. CMLL will be running the annual Dia del Muertos show on 10/30. That includes a Rey del Inframundo (Sanson) championship match, with a challenger decided on 10/23. The four title matches pushed off the Anniversary show will also happen in some form during October, assuming the participants are healthy.

These October shows will air on Ticketmaster Live. No pricing has been announced and no tickets are on sale. If CMLL is going to push on through with tonight’s show, it would’ve been a smart move to sell a package of it and the future shows as an impulse purchase. Oh well.

Bandido told Milenio Thursday that he had a slight pain in his chest but otherwise was OK. He was planning on visiting a doctor that day. Bandido also filmed a video for CMLL, thanking their fans for their support.

Ultimo Guerrero seemed fine on a Facebook video, indicated he’s planning on spending two weeks away from people.

Box Y Lucha posted the CMLL interviews with Marcela & La Metalica and Mistico & Caristico. The two Misticos pushed the idea of taking their tag team to New Japan and Ring of Honor. ROH and CMLL seem to be ignoring each otherwise at the moment. A story reported by the Super J Cast (but originally investigated by DOUKI) says there are rumors of both a NJPW Best of Super Juniors and a World Tag League tour still to take place this year. I’m not sure Mistico & Caristico are working either of those. It’s also going to be tough for FantasticaMania to happen without everyone staying in a hotel for two weeks beforehand. We usually start to hear about those shows in the next month, though NJPW themselves haven’t gotten around to talking about the 01/04 show yet.

ESTO has a big article with Euforia, hyping his trios title match. Which is now postponed, as the article notes near the end. CMLL did most of their media work before they announced Bandido & Ultimo Guerrero being off, and don’t appear to get a heads up to the media.

AAA AutoLuchas 

AAA officially announced the AutoLuchas shows, taking place the Mexico City car racing track. No change in the dates: October 3rd & 4th and 10th & 11th, Saturdays and Sundays. Shows take place 1 pm, 4:30 pm, and 8:00 pm. The idea is five-match shows, giving enough time for people to come and before the next show. Tickets per car run $947.00 – $2152.00 ($43 to $98 USD); there are different distances to the ring and bigger vehicles will be placed towards the back. They’ll have screens around the make-shift arena to help everyone have a view, and announcers will be calling the shows on radio.

All shows will be taped. The 10/03 8 pm show will be shown live on AAA’s social media. (I presume this meant Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook.) The rest will air as normal TV shows on Azteca and Space. Those make their way to YouTube eventually; we may not see them right away, but I’d estimate they’ll be available in November. They are not giving out lineups ahead of time, as a precaution in case of COVID-19 issues. The idea is each show will have different matches and there won’t be a lot of storylines. They’re open to running more of these shows and running them in other parts of Mexico should they prove successful. Monterrey came up as a possible next location for AutoLuchas.

Everyone producing, wrestlers (said to be 75 wrestlers on the current roster) and production, will start getting COVID-19 testing on Monday. They’re also figuring out their COVID-19 protocols on Monday, including when they cancel the show. They’ll be doing temperature checks, checking for masks and handing out gel as each car comes to the arena. Dorian Roldan emphasized they were taking COVID-19 very seriously and that it’s important for all sports companies to keep the people safe; if they can’t do that, they should cancel their event. This certainly came off as a reference to the CMLL situation, though they didn’t come up by name and there’s plenty of other outbreaks Roldan could’ve been thinking about.

Doran Roldan briefly went over a partial list of names. Pagano, Laredo Kid, and Pentagon Jr. were in addition to those among those who are in AAA full time. Surprises were also promised, as required in hyping every lucha libre show ever. Lady Shani, Chessman, and Psycho Clown talked to build up the show. They made a point of pushing this as something people who have never gone to lucha libre (or maybe never gone to AAA lucha libre.)

Other Notes

The next Mexico health status update is tonight at 6 pm. Mexico State’s governor says they will remain in Orange health condition for the next two weeks; they seemed close to going yellow last week. Mexico City’s governor says they’re improving but also remaining in Orange. There’s one state who has a chance of turning green (50% capacity) but it doesn’t seem like there will be big news.

Zona 23 tried to run a secret show on Sunday. They got caught by the police, who blocked the show. They ran the show in an empty field anyway. Ciclope beat Miedo Extremo for their title in the main event. Those guys have found a way to do a punishing amount of violent matches. They wrestled in the Vanguardia exploding ring match on Saturday (airs this upcoming Sunday), did this match for Zona 23 on Sunday, and had another death-match on a Vanguardia branded show in Tijuana on Wednesday. That one seems more like TJ indie guys and Ciclope vs Miedo on top than a normal Vanguardia, but I’m sure it doesn’t feel good all the same.

Hijo del Pirata Morgan hypes his hair versus mask match with Jean Montanez. I had no idea this was meant to be an 80 peso PPV. It would probably help if the ad included a date and time for the show (Saturday at 7 pm) but these things happen. I really hope Pirata isn’t losing that.

LEGEND has a package of two shows on PPV for 250 pesos this weekend, which include fans in attendance. They posted their COVID-19 protocols.

EMW held a press conference for their 10/03 drive-in show. Damian and Bestia appeared, talking about the need to restart wrestling for the luchador’s sake.

10/04 Lucha Memes Battle of Coacalco tournament participants

• Perro de Guerra Jr.
• Blaze
• Latigo
• Sadico
• Arez
• Garrobo Punk
• Fly Star
• Black Taurus

Crazy King and Judas el Traidor will also appear in non-tournament action.

Lucha Memes has a deal where wrestlers and even referees are being “sponsored” by fans. You have to DM the promoter on Facebook to find out sponsorship details; they’re keeping the amounts quiet. That’s been done in some American promotions too. (A fan paying a promotion to bring in someone is occasionally done on indie shows, though usually not with that fact promoted.) It’s great for the promotion, making a little extra money by slapping a logo on any poster like any other sponsor. It doesn’t seem like a great deal for the person paying to sponsor a wrestler, but it’s their money and they can use it any silly way they want. I’m concerned that’s there some precedent being set here that’ll be a problem later on. It’s also a thing that an indie lucha promoter is doing and so – no offense meant to Lucha Memes – the most likely outcome is it happens twice and never again so why did I even write this paragraph.

10/17 MexaWrestling “Mexa War II” at Arena San Juan

• Fly Star, Lunatik Extreme, Sobredosis vs Joe Lider, Ciclope, Miedo Extremo

That match was previously with Crazy Boy. MexaWrestling says it was a mix up over dates on their side. They still list DTU as one of the promotions participating, which is unlikely with the Vanguardia guys involved.

Promoters in Leon are hoping to be able to run again in October.

Aeroboy will appear in GCW’s Nick Gage Invitation on 11/07 in New Jersey.

Fenix has a CBD sponsorship, That is a natural fit.

LuchaWorld has the latest news update.

El Diario de Victoria remembers an old El Santo appearance in Ciudad Victoria.

Cuatro Poder has a profile of Chiapas luchador Tury Jr. He’s hoping to run a show with 4,000 people, 50% capacity, by the end of the year.

This is a breaking news post and may be updated with more details later.

Bandido and Ultimo Guerrero both have tested positive for COVID-19, CMLL announced on Informa Wednesday. They join Lluvia and Princesa Sugehit as COVID-19 CMLL luchadors in the last few days. Four of the seven matches planned for the CMLL Aniversario show, CMLL’s biggest event, have now been changed due to COVID-19 positive results. CMLL still plans on running the show on Friday.

Mexico City wrestling regulations require regular COVID-19 testing. CMLL has said they’re following all testing regulations, have shown glimpses of testing, and have implied they’re doing tests once a week. There are no more further details, including the type of tests being used. Sugehit’s positive test came with her personal doctor in Monterrey. Bandido worked CMLL’s show on Friday, which wouldn’t have been allowed with a positive test. Any positive test seems as though it must’ve also been him getting a test himself. It is less clear when Lluvia or Ultimo Guerrero tested positive. Lluvia did miss Friday’s show with no explanation, but CMLL rarely explains missing wrestlers. Ultimo Guerrero has not appeared or been listed on a CMLL PPV card since their return, but did work some of their TV tapings.

CMLL fans overwhelming voted Bandido to face Volador Jr. for his NWA Historic Welterweight Championship. Bandido can no longer participate. Templario will take Bandido’s place as Volador’s challenger. Lluvia and Princesa Sugehit are to get their make up title matches in October. CMLL will also make up the missing world trios title match in October and plan to also have Bandido/Volador in October.

Box Y Lucha mentioned fan-circulated rumors of Bandido’s COVID-19 diagnosis in their issue on Monday, but the story didn’t get widely picked up until CMLL’s announcement on Wednesday. Ultimo Guerrero’s status has been in question since his partner Lluvia was announced as testing positive on Monday. CMLL quietly deleted graphics promoting both the trios title match and Volador/Bandido from social media on Tuesday.

If I’m right about CMLL testing before TV tapings on Thursday – a lot of guesswork there – CMLL may not know who else is COVID-19 positive until tomorrow. CMLL possibly will change the procedures because of these tests but they have may outward indications of a chance and are continuing on as normal.

AAA will reportedly resume running events with their first AutoLuchas show on October 3rd. An article in RECORD, republished here, had the details on Tuesday. A press conference scheduled to announce this on Tuesday was postponed, so some or all the information may change.

The current plans are for three shows a day on Saturdays and Sundays at the Hermanos Rodriguez car racetrack. That is a change from running in at Six Flags Mexico. (Dr. Landru alluded to that change earlier Tuesday, mentioning the area around Six Flags is still dealing with a high number of infections.) The AutoLuchas shows would have room for 250 cars a show, hoping for 750 cars a day. The rest of the details are what had been announced in July; there is no new information on streaming or video accessibility.

The AutoLucha press conference is still happening this week at last word but I don’t know when. Obviously, if that press conference never takes place, then these shows aren’t happening yet.

CMLL announced today’s Informa guests will be the champions defending their titles at Aniversario. Expect additional news on that show. The Aniversario show remains on.

Hechicero and Gala Lutteroth appeared on a Mexican sensate sponsored panel discussion about the importance of lucha libre in Mexican Culture. Hechicero, Gala Lutteroth, Salvador Lutteroth Lomeli, Atlantis Jr. and Mystique appeared at the opening of a mask/photo lucha libre exhibit at the W Hotel. That will remain open for two weeks. Gala Lutteroth is officially listed as “CMLL Director of Cultural Relations and has appeared a little more often as a CMLL public representative of late, since the cultural connection appears to have allowed them to start running again.

Mephisto wants to go for the tag titles with Hechicero.

Microman voted for himself twice.

Pandmeic unemployment assistance loans for luchadors will be distributed this week, according to a press conference at the Mexico City lucha libre commission office. 250 Mexico City luchadors and 380 Mexico State luchadors signed up for a 25,000 pesos ($1,159) loan, which they’ll need to repay in three years. The luchadors will receive a card with the value by visiting their local welfare office, which means the lucha libre commission is now out of the process. Fantasma was asked again about the rumor people working on behalf of the office were pocketing a “processing fee” and maintained no one was asked for it while asking anyone who has proof otherwise to come forward.

There’s something funny about Fantasma telling people not to go to secret shows to a media outlet that’s been filming secret shows. On a similar topic, Mas Lucha’s podcast talks to two promoters – the Arena Mama Luchas and one outside of Monterrey – who was shut down by the government this past week.

Konnan Big has tested positive about COVID-19. He is not showing symptoms. Konnan Big later said he’d like to donate blood plasma with COVID-19 antibodies once he gets better, which humorously led to people on social media expressing their distrust for the safety and substances in Konnan Big’s blood.

Referee Babe Richard Jr. says he caught COVID-19 and was sick for some time but now has recovered.

Tijuana Pro Wrestling is advertising a drive-in show tonight (9:30 pm CT, 7:30 pm local) that apparently ill be airing on Facebook. They’re advertising names from Lucha Libre Vanguardia, but no matches are mentioned. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere besides their Facebook.

MexaWrestling’s last show will premiere on Mas Lucha this Saturday. Their next show will be on October 17th and will include wrestlers from DTU, IWRG, and Lucha Time.

Metaleon announced he’d be going by Leon Dorado Jr. from now on, though promoters are generally slow on the uptake on these changes.

Vanguardia teased a surprise debut for their PPV this Sunday. I feel like I should look at the DTU roster and figure out who else has disappeared.

EMW’s drive-in show will now take place on 10/03 at the Toros de Tijuana baseball stadium. They didn’t have a location when they announced two weeks ago so this one might take.

Expo Lucha is going virtual for 2020. On October 10th, they’re going to have a panel discussion with Konnan and the hosts of the MMM show about Lucha Underground and show never before seen matches. This will all stream on their video platforms.

Periodico Correo has a good piece on Leon’s history of wrestling, which has greatly declined since the closure of former weekly stop Arena Isabel. The article argues that the most famous two luchadors from Leon were Black Shadow, who lost his mask to El Santo, and Bobby Lee, who lost his mask to Hijo del Santo.

I’m behind on the podcasts, so the Sam Adonis interview on Chris Jericho’s podcast is a few weeks old but definitely worth checking for lucha libre talk. A sad story inside: Chris Jericho has been DM-ing Negro Casas on Instagram for a couple of years and never gets a response. Jericho figures Casas doesn’t know how to use Instagram and he’s probably right.

Nino Hamburguesa appeared in a rap video.

Aeroboy appeared in a beer commercial.

Crazy Boy believes his biggest rival is himself.

Laredo Kid is raffling off a set of gear.

Periodico La Voz has a profile of Difunto II.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 09/27/2020 Arena Naucalpan
1) Chicanito vs Maradó
2) Atomik Star & Legendario vs Dick Angelo 3G & Shil-Kha
3) Alas De Plata & Diosa Quetzal vs Diosa Atenea & Fulgor
4) Karaoui & Veneno vs Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal vs Hijo del Alebrije & Relámpago
5) Demonio Infernal & Fresero Jr. vs Dragón Bane & Hijo de Canis Lupus [IWRG IC TAG, #1 Contenders, semifinal]

The tournament looks to have slowed down to one match a day. The feuds from the last few weeks are gone, this is more a normal pre-pandemic card. The last few shows have been surprisingly tightly booked, which hopefully will continue.