CMLL announced the second block of the National Trios tournament on CMLL Informa
- Titan, Flyer, Esfinge
- Negro Casas, Felino, Felino Jr.
- Rey Cometa, Espiritu Negro, Audaz
- Virus, Raziel, Cacnerbero
Guerrero Maya Jr., Stuka Jr. and Star Jr. are already in the final, a rudo team likely will fact them, and the Casas family team seems the more likely of the two.
CMLL also announced Amapola & Marcela versus La Jarochita & Dalys for the 04/25 CMLL PPV. This is a weird thing to have to type but I do believe CMLL is trying to put on shows they believe their fans want to see. My theory is they’ve just fallen into a hole where the only fans they trust are the people who comment on Facebook and on their YouTube chat, asking for new matches. That’s how they end up with something like that women’s tag match, technically a never-before-seen match. It’s not a match anyone is screaming out to see, it just checks the box as something new. This 04/25 show is going to be a OK show, we saw most of the people work hard on the last show, it’s just not an exciting show and no more interesting than the many hours of TV CMLL is already putting out for free. Perhaps CMLL is correct – the only people they could get to buy PPVs are already deep in the CMLL bubble so appeal to them – but it’s a negative growth strategy.
Mexico City says they’re close to reaching the less restrictive yellow health status but will remain in orange for the upcoming week. CMLL had been publically hoping for fans at this 04/25 show but those plans are scrubbed for another PPV cycle. The health department expects any effect from Easter gatherings to start turning up in next week’s numbers; we may know then if there will be another wave of cases.
CMLL is sponsoring a virtual 3/6/9 KM event. CMLL’s sponsored marathons and other shorter running events annually; a virtual one means you’re doing it by yourself with an app and sending in the time, since everyone can’t get together. As part of the tie-up, people who participate can buy a “lucha libre streaming event” for 50 pesos. There’s are no more details on when/what that event is; it seems like a safe bet it’s the usual Ticketmaster event and not something separate.
Kalisto released
WWE’s Kalisto, who previously was wrestled as Samuray del Sol, was among a handful of people released by the promotion on Thursday. While he was pushed surprisingly well by WWE early on their main roster, his last two years have been a struggle: an injury in 2019 that kept him out almost a year, returning to do a split with the rest of Lucha House Party that never reached the blowoff match, being sent to SmackDown and then never wrestling outside of a battle royal. If we want to be direct about it, the moment they put together him in Lucha House Party was probably the death-knell for his WWE run. It might have been their own idea and it did get them some success on 205 Live, but it typecast them as opening match wrestlers on WWE’s main roster who’d get a push once a year and he and the rest of them have never escaped that slotting. I suspect, given he was a main roster guy before being put in that group, Kalisto was making a bit more money than Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, and that’s a factor in why he’s gone while they’re still around. At least for now.
This release is expected to include a 90 day period where he’s unable able to take work in many promotions; his website currently features a countdown timer. Kalisto’s post-WWE run in Mexico is likely to resemble Cinta de Oro’s: an AAA cameo here or there, other well-paid bookings, but not many appearances. I think I’m less optimistic about his post-WWE run than most. There’s general hope he’ll return to something close to his 2021 Samuray del Sol form, but I think that guy is long gone. Maintaining a cutting edge high-flying style over that many years has a physical toll and the bigger issue may be mental. He’s spent near a decade being taught what he was doing in 20212 wasn’t the right way to go about doing things, he needed to work the WWE way, and seemingly that he wasn’t good enough doing it the WWE way or they would’ve done more with him. It’s hard to imagine anyone snapping back out of that to what they were; it’d be a lot easier for Cinta de Oro & Samuray del Sol to rebrand themselves as The Lucha Dragons and do easy matches in front of WWE fans. It should be treated as a bonus if we get a great worker back, not a guarantee.
I do expect AAA to be interested in using Samuray del Sol, Samoa Joe, and others who were released; AAA’s love of bringing in foreign wrestlers for one-off appearances will never change. It’ll be more of a limitation of who they can afford to bring in, with no or limited capacity restricting the budget. It’s likely there will be NXT releases on Friday. I’d like to think Legado Fantasma unit are all safe but it’s hard to know with WWE.
TV Notes
04/16 CMLL AMX
- Sangre Imperial vs Grako
- Soberano Jr. & Virus vs Mephisto & Valiente in a relevos increibles
- Angel de Oro vs Negro Casas (maybe a repeat)
04/17 CMLL MVS
- Robin vs Disturbio (maybe a repeat)
- Ampola vs Tiffany
- Star Jr. & Audaz vs Okumura & Dark Magic (likely a repeat but from the HT show no one gets)
04/17 CMLL Televisa
- Block B of the Mexican Trios Tournament
- probably some other matches?
04/17 AAA Space
- Latigo, Arez, Parkaita Negra vs Octagon Jr., Nino Hamburguesa, Aramis
- Aerostar, Myzteziz vs Argenis, Parka Negra
- Poder del Norte vs Drago, Faby Apache, Pagano
AAA will move on to their Tonatico taping; they probably had another week left from Valle de Bravo, so that’s surprising. They should have three weeks of TV left; they need to tape by May 1st to have something to air May 8th. Or they could air the missing matches from Valle de Bravo or elsewhere, but continues to point at May 1st being the planned Rey de Reyes date. AAA figures to announce that any day now.
Mas Lucha’s weekend offerings include a Bandido/Emperador Azteca singles match in KAOZ. The much-talked-about Bandido Gym opening show takes place this weekend, to air next week. Lucha Memes, with WM weekend standout Daniel Garcia versus Aramis; takes place this Sunday and turns up on IWTV at some indeterminate point.
Other Notes
Mas Lucha aired the first round of the Vanguadia Extraordinario tournament over the last two days. The semifinals will be El Mago vs Ciclope and Simbolo Azteca vs Jimmy, airing tonight. I think they’re doing a Mago/Jimmy final. Ciclope made it clear his issue with Lobo Blanco will continue on the upcoming show, so he’s probably not in the title final.
Arena Coliseo Guadalajara officially announced Satanico versus Blue Panther for the Maestros championship, in a one fall match.
DTU announced its first show of the year will take place on May 28th, in Ciudad Madero.
This week’s Box Y Lucha had a few interesting notes. The La Lucha Que Se Hace Libre column says Averno has indeed left AAA and the 05/01 match with Caristico is his first as an independent. That’s still surprising to me; he would’ve been my best guess at who would’ve taken over creative if Konnan ever moved on to something else (and I guess it’s AAA, he could still end up being that), but that’s probably more my lack of information about AAA than any solid guess. The same column also mentions Tony Salazar is now teaching classes at Arena Revolucion, since he’s not permitted to do so at Arena Mexico due to COVID protocols. The Revolucionarios en Accion column mentions Salvador Lutteroth III, the effective leader of CMLL, was interviewed on Foro TV’s Es La Hora de Opinar on April 5th. The show has YouTube uploads and a podcast, but I can’t find anything for that day.
Batman del Futuro (Juan Valadez, 30) passed away on Thursday, according to Box y Lucha. He lost his mask in a 2012 IWRG rookies cage match and wrestled as Johnny Rivera for a couple of years after that.
Arena Lopez Mateos will have their 54th Anniversary show on 05/15.
Tinieblas Jr. will be on a midday celebrity dancing show. Other articles confined it’s his father who is running for office (and that no actual journalism outlet is going to hesitate using his real name.)