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.