CMLL (FRI) 06/04/2021 Arena México
1) Sangre Imperial & Sonic vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
2) Magia Blanca vs El Coyote [lightning]
3) Marcela & Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys & Stephanie Vaquer
4) El Audaz, Fugaz, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Dark Magic, Okumura, Vangellys
5) Blue Panther Jr., The Panther, Valiente vs Cuatrero, Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II
6) Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. vs Ángel de Oro, Euforia, Terrible [Relevos Increíbles]
The Panther Brothers get a semi-main spot after Copa Dinastias, at least for a few weeks. It appears Black Panther has one again reverted to being “The Panther”; CMLL listed him on the poster without explaining it, as per normal. (It’ll probably come up on CMLL Informa.) None of the matches look particularly appealing.
CMLL originally announced this card with NGD on top. It sure seems like on the outside like CMLL has a group of people in charge of keep track of outside bookings (and approving them), yet they were caught off guard by Forastero & Sanson being booked in Monterrey on this same day. It’s unclear what that department actually does. CMLL had to pull down the lineup and post an updated one a few hours later. Angel de Oro & Terrible were added, with Euforia and Cuatrero also swapping spots.
(Cuatrero & Angel de Oro seem to have passed COVID protocols. Angel de Oro was out and about last Saturday.)
CMLL released the Tuesday card at the same time.
CMLL (TUE) 06/08/2021 Arena México
1) Bengala & Leono vs Cholo & Inquisidor
2) Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio [lightning]
3) Amapola & Lluvia vs Reyna Isis & Skadi [Relevos Increíbles]
4) Magia Blanca & Robin vs Akuma & Espanto Jr.
5) Guerrero Maya Jr., Star Jr., Stuka Jr. vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero
6) Ángel de Oro, Cavernario, Terrible vs Felino, Titán, Valiente [Relevos Increíbles]
The Hechicero/Stuka feud may continue in the semi-main, maybe there’s an Isis/Amapola title match coming out of the tercera, and the main event is the first Cavernario/Felino match to air since Cavernario’s foot injury. It’s still not much of an exciting card. Robin suddenly working the fourth match points to some sudden depth issues.
This does seem like the ‘new’ CMLL card structure, which is the old card structure with two fewer people booked in the tercera. The opening tag may remain one fall, it’s not indicated on the poster. It may change again as capacity increased.
Both the Friday and Tuesday shows seem like fine enough shows to have on if you’re around, maybe something to watch later, but nothing you have to see at the moment. They’re perfect shows for YouTube. They will not be on YouTube – at least the Friday show will not be. CMLL announced the Friday event had sold out of its 500 ticket allotment and all other fans can see it on Ticketmaster. This did not appear to be the original plan; CMLL ended last Friday’s show saying the next PPV would be June 25th.
Ticketmaster is selling this Friday show for the full price (230 pesos/$11.55 USD.) CMLL Ticketmaster shows are always that price if you buy them the week of the show. Many people likely bought the Copa Dinastia and the return of fans shows in advance, which means this show with absolutely nothing going on will cost more. CMLL will air TV with largely the same quality matches and the same names, only those won’t have fans. CMLL’s made no justification of why this should is worth as much as the others – they’re doing it because they believe there are so many people desperate to see CMLL that they’re just going to pay whatever.
I’m not going to purchase this show. I don’t think anyone should. CMLL barely tries as it is; if they’re successful at throwing out a nothing card and getting people to buy it, then there’s no reason to try any harder. It’s hard to imagine this succeeding at all either. CMLL is a cold promotion, one where people will check out a show to have a fun night out but few are following every show. The promotion’s current booking and working style actively discourage that; they’d prefer you didn’t see what happened in two shows because they’re going to just repeat it again this week. Volador/Bandido was going to be a great match and it will be a historic curiosity. So were fans coming back to Arena Mexico. Even the Copa Dinastias tournament is likely to be brought up once a year. This is just nothing. It might be less than nothing; CMLL’s card changes signal this was a second-choice main event. No one should be paying 200 pesos for this.
CMLL did try weekly monthly PPVs back in October. CMLL and Ticketmaster don’t release numbers, but those shows obviously tanked based on the lack of fan reaction and both sides dropping the idea from November. Those October shows came with a variety of packages, discounts, and more meaningful cards than the show on Friday, and it still flopped. CMLL and Ticketmaster should know this is going to draw a handful of purchases. This feels like a desperate move and it’s a bit concerning that they need to make those.
SuperLuchas believes the Tuesday show will also be on Ticketmaster Live, though CMLL has not said that yet and it’s not currently on sale as a PPV. Ticketmaster has tickets on sale for Friday June 11th and Tuesday June 15th for live events, not yet PPVs.
CMLL Informa has the Ambassadors of Evil (Dark Magic, Vangellys, Okumura), the Panthers (Blue Jr., Cachorro, The), and Cholo and Inquisidor announced.
AAA is taping TV this week. The Monday taping took place at a ranch in Huasca, Hidalgo, and apparently included the Laredo Kid versus Latigo AAA Cruiserweight championship match set up at Rey de Reyes. This taping is slated to start airing Saturday; there’s no telling which week the title match airs. AAA is taping again today in Hidalgo and then they’ll be off for another three to four weeks.
The Warrior Wrestling June show is this Saturday. I’ll be there, which means it’ll be a bit more difficult to record AAA this week. I expect I’ll get it done but definitely don’t count on it turning up on the Google Drive on Saturday.
Federacion Wrestling was supposed to announce the location of the first show on Monday. They did not. They announced today that they’ll announce it sometime later today. Federacion Wrestling has otherwise slowed down on announcements.
Thursday’s IWRG show has a three-way trios match as a preview to Sunday’s card match.
The NWA has a PPV on Sunday afternoon, with Bestia 666, Mecha Wolf, and Sam Adonis appearing.
Monday, Arena Coliseo Guadalajara posted another tease for Caristico versus a mystery person (who may be Averno), saying it would happen during their anniversary month. They later deleted the post. June is CMLL’s Arena Coliseo Guadalara’s anniversary month The building opened on June 20th. That’s a Sunday and might make sense as the restart of the Sunday shows. Otherwise, the big show of the month is probably on the 22nd. Averno and Caristico did wrestle in Reynosa, in a match that may have flown under CMLL’s radar.
Vanguardia announced Jimmy versus Aeroboy for their 06/12 show.
KAOZ announced a partnership with Lucha Maniaks. The picture amusingly makes it look like two distant groups working together; Lucha Maniak’s home of Laredo, Texas is three hours from Monterrey. Also, I realized I think Lucha Maniaks and Loko Wrestling are the same group when they’re actually two different Texas indies.
LuchaWorld has this week’s Poster-Mania.