CMLL returns to run an ordinary show

CMLL returned to running regular Friday night shows last night.

CMLL (FRI) 09/04/2020 Arena México [CMLL, ESTO, Furia de Titanes, Lucha Central, Marca, Mas Lucha, Ovaciones, PubliMetro, R de Rudo, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) El Coyote b Diamond
8:47. Coyote took falls 2/3.
2) Espíritu Negro & Rey Cometa b Audaz & Guerrero Maya Jr.
14:32. Cometa/Negra, as rudos, took 1/3. Olimpico debuted as a referee.
3) Dalys & Reyna Isis b Marcela & Princesa Sugehit
15:47. Rudas took 1/3, Dalys beating both tecnicas after Isis had been eliminated.
4) Euforia, Gran Guerrero, Sansón b El Bandido, Flyer, Volador Jr.
14:42. Rudos took 2/3, the last when Gran Guerrero sneakily unmasked himself while taking a headscissors from Volador. The two teams agreed to a rematch next week. Bandido replaced Star Jr. a week out. Sanson replaced Ultimo Guerrero.
5) Felino DQ Bárbaro Cavernario
12:55. Felino took 1/3, the last when Cavernario foul kicked him. Both men pushed their hair match, which now has no date.

An all rudo night, though Felino was meant to be the tecnico in the main event.

Some highlights are here.

This felt like I was funneling $5 to CMLL (and hopefully to the wrestlers) as a charity donation during hard times, and not really as a standalone event worth money by normal standards. Mexican wrestling generally seems unwilling or unable to adapt to an empty arena setting, running the same matches they always would with less excitement to them. This was a Tuesday show with a special main event in terms of matches and layout. I don’t totally mind the DQs, because I see the three pre-Anniversario shows as a package deal and everyone who saw the first one already paid for the last one, but nothing they did made me feel like I saw a special show. It was a show, put on for people who desperately needed to work.

Ending this show as a hard sell for a Felino & Barbaro Cavernario hair match that no one honestly knows when will happen was indicative of the CMLL’s tunnel vision. They did it because that’s why they do, logical or not.

Many of the wrestlers were not in ring shape or otherwise appeared rusty. Cavernario will likely get the most attention for it because he was in the main event, but there were people up and down the card who were slower to do their usual spots and it showed. I don’t blame anyone for it, they’re off for six months and they’re told not to go to the gym, this is the obvious result. CMLL’s style is built on speed and timing and it’s impossible to ignore when it’s missing.

Ovaciones says the commission required the wrestlers to appear three hours prior to the show and they took temperature tests, also saying they “previously took COVID tests.”

I had no significant issues with the Ticketmaster stream. I did see there were some who did on Twitter, and Ticketmaster seemed to be trying to help them, though it was basic stuff like restarting and clearing your cookies. It appeared CMLL turned down the entrance video to barely audible, which may be a music rights issue. Brace yourself for an AAA-like abrupt entrance theme shift if CMLL keeps going this way. They added fake crowd noise, though it didn’t seem to consistently there. It was dead quiet except for Coyote’s howls in the opener, while the women’s match had loud airhorns.

Tigre Infante and Olimpico were the two referees for all of the matches. Olimpico announced he had retired from wrestling and would be a referee going forward. Edgar Noriega worked as a referee for the government show. The older CMLL referees – Terror Chino, Bestia Negra, and Pompin – are all noticeably missing. This may be a COVID related issue and they’re going to be held out of the ring until the health situation appears. It’s also possible they just might not return. Pompin was likely close to retiring anyway. CMLL presented Olimpico like he’s a full-time member of the referee staff, not an emergency fill-in.

The Roshfans advertisements on the arena were good, as was the case on the government show. There are other sponsors shown on the video board (Volaris, Turibus, the other promotions), though that may be inertia and not meaningful.

Friday in “Things CMLL does without explaining, getting fans to be unhappy with them when there’s no need for it”

• CMLL quietly replaced Ultimo Guerrero with Sanson in the main event, didn’t say a word about it
• CMLL quietly reaired the government show plus a new Sonic/Yago match on the TV Mexquiense broadcast

I have no idea where the Sonic/Yago match came from; the few media who were there from the government show didn’t mention it. It’s possible CMLL’s quietly taped matches for its other TV show and is not advertising that fact and new matches will be airing on Televisa this week. There’s no way of knowing; this promotion doesn’t promote.

The post-match promos which used to be on YouTube are now on Facebook. That seems like the social media site to be for wrestling but, again, CMLL didn’t mention it all. You’re supposed to figure this all out on your own.

There’s no lineup for next week’s show and no idea when there will be one.

Lola Gonzalez, Irma Aguilar, Irma Gonzalez, La Marques, La Yaqui, Selene, Martha Villalobos, and Lady Apache were honored by the World Knowledge Summit Mexico. As always, the older luchadoras wanted to make it clear that every younger luchadora is terrible, just the worst.

The 09/27 Lucha Libre Real mystery main event is no longer a mystery: it’s an eight man cage match with Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., Galeno del Mal, Trauma I, Trauma II, Scoria, Cuervo, Demonio Infernal, and Drako. The last two left will advance to an apuesta match on a future show. I’d be surprised if they actually did that match with partial attendance. Drako & Demonio Infernal are obviously the most likely to lose, though Scoria & Cuervo can’t be 100% ruled out. This is a Mas Lucha premium show, though Lucha Libre Real seems to have their own sign up for it. No idea if that’s some sort of referral program, revenue share, or what. I say “no idea” on so much of this stuff.

Rush posting that photo of a paper with a CMLL logo was revealed to be content for his YouTube video. He’s not going back to CMLL.

Queretaro luchador Alex Guajardo is recovering from COVID-19. He felt symptoms on August 25th and got his positive test back on the 28th. Guajardo works as a nurse in addition to wrestling. He did work on one of the secret location Generacion XXI shows, though that would’ve been on August 2nd, which seems likely to be well before the infection.

Acapulco luchador Angel Azteca passed away. The comments mentioned he died in an accident.

Lady Flammer & The Tiger announced Flammer is pregnant with the couple’s first child.

There will be a wrestling licensing exam in Ciudad Victoria in November.

Segunda Caida writes about a match with the Headhunters and Brazo de Plata.