CMLL suspends Friday night shows for the next three weeks, DTU show leads to bar being shut down

CMLL announced on CMLL Informa that they will not have live Friday night shows over the next three weeks. Julio Cesar Rivera explained the promotion had a deal with Ticketmaster for the September and October shows, but not beyond that. CMLL will not air shows on Marca or YouTube, they simply will be off. They will return to Friday nights on November 27th. CMLL’s TV shows will continue to air new content.

It did appear CMLL and Ticketmaster were going month to month; the October shows weren’t listed until that month started, and same with the single November show. Both sides would obviously still be continuing the deal if there was money to be made; CMLL as a weekly show failed and they’re switching to a once a month PPV model. The 11/27 show will have both the Leyenda de Azul cibernetico and an Ultimo Guerrero/Euforia title match to give it a bigger show feel.

This doesn’t seem like the original plan: CMLL had early indicated the postponed Bandido/Volador match would be made up this week. That is back to having no date. Also, Ultimo Guerrero suggested his team with Euforia is over, which would mean the other pending Aniversario match (the trios title match) may never be made up. That’s not official yet, though, and last week’s angle of Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja turning rudo has already been walked back to them being tecnicos with more of an edge.

CMLL seems to have weeks of backlogged TV matches, based on how old the matches which aired last week. It’s possible they may just shut down tapings until that November show and clear out that backlog. They also got by airing repeat material during the shut down before and might switch back to that over time, though they specifically promoted new matches this week. CMLL’s been believed to be making only a small sum of money from television – especially from the lesser networks like TV Mexquienese/AMX and MVS – so it would be surprising if those shows were profitable enough to get newly taped material while Ticketmaster was not.

Azteca’s Lucha Libre section has an article on new father Hijo del Vikingo, explaining his baby as the reason he’s not been back. They say Vikingo will be back in AAA “soon”. There’s no quote from Vikingo in the article. That section rarely breaks news, but occasionally has AAA news shortly before it’s posted. Not sure if they know something this time or are just guessing like the rest of us.

Lucha Libre Vanguardia latest show (10/25) will go up via PPV (Facebook group) on Sunday for 50 pesos. Their previous show (09/09) is going up on Mas Lucha Premium on Thursday as part of their $8/month a plan. These are two different shows. It makes sense what they’re doing, you want to make the last show more available to raise interest in the next one, but it did catch me off guard at first.

DTU ran a show late Saturday night/early Sunday at a bar. That bar is now being shut down for failure to adhere to COVID-19 regulations, with “a lucha libre show” specifically being cited. DTU is not mentioned by name but the photos make it clear it was a DTU show. I don’t have this as a fact, but I believe that was a paid show. DTU ran their own event a few hours early on Saturday evening in an outdoor venue, then much of the people who worked that worked the bar show as part of that bar’s Halloween show. The photos show few people wearing masks.

GQ Mexico has an article on AAA’s AutoLuchas, with quotes from Carta Brava, Lady Maravilla, Big Mami, and Parkita Negra. Carta Brava mentions staying in shape by working out in parks and in secretly opened gyms. He and Big Mami both talk about the experience of wrestling not being the same in front of cars as it is normal, but it’s better than nothing.

The Sonora boxing and lucha libre commission says they’ll likely approve a drive-in wrestling show this month.

GALLI’s actually running this next Saturday and Sunday, not just Sunday. Both shows will air on FITE TV for $10 each, though I don’t see a listing for it on that site yet.

Estrellas del Ring’s videos of IWRG’s Castillo del Terror show now are private. That was a Mas Lucha Premium show, which is probably the deal. There evidently is some discussion between Mas Lucha and some of the bootlegged lucha libre sites (with maybe the promotions involved too), but it seems from the outside that everyone’s still figuring out what the rules are going forward.

Milenio has a bio of Charly Manson; there’s no current news hook, but some sites are doing articles on “dark” wrestlers as Dia del Muertos content. What stuck out for me is the version here of his 2011 arrest. Milenio says Charly Manson had someone driving his car, who dropped him and his wife off at home. Manson was tired and headed to bed, only to hear the driver shout for him: thieves had attacked the driver and stolen his vehicle. Manson called the police, who arrived and believed Manson was actually the thief, started provoking him, and Manson attacked both police officers. Articles back in 2011, which appear to have heavily leaned on the police account, framed it more as a drunken escape by Manson.

Mas Lucha’s latest episode of En+carados is up.

Lineups

IWRG (SUN) 11/08/2020 Arena Naucalpan
1) Legendario vs Rey Halcón Jr.
2) Diosa Quetzal & Puma de Oro vs Charro Negro (Nuevo León) & Lilith Dark
3) Estrella Divina & Tiago vs Jessy Ventura & Pasion Kristal and Oficial 911 & Oficial AK47
4) Death Metal, Emperador Azteca, The Tiger vs Demonio Infernal, Fresero Jr., X-Fly
5) Capo Mayor, Mecha Wolf, Súper Beast vs Hijo de Canis Lupus, Hijo De Dos Caras, Hijo del Alebrije

US wrestler Super Beast suffered a right quadriceps tear catching a Hijo de Dos Caras dive on Sunday. He is still hoping to make this match. Mecha Wolf is among a few working this show and the Kriminal Lucha Libre show the night before, where the Divo/Toxin singles match is now a trios match.