Caristico & Virus advance to tournament final, full CMLL weekend results, IWRG, KAOZ

CMLL (FRI) 06/18/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Marca, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, SuperLuchas, The Gladiatores, thecubsfan]
1) El Coyote & Grako b Arkalis & Sonic   
9:02
2) Dalys b Lluvia [lightning]   
7:08.
3) Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Magia Blanca, Star Jr.   
12:56. Rudos took 2/3.
4) Blue Panther Jr. & Euforia b Carístico, Felino, Ángel de Oro, Rey Cometa, Atlantis Jr., Panterita Del Ring [battle royal]
5) Carístico & Virus b Atlantis Jr. & Hijo del Villano III [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
7:00. Villano & Atlantis fought post match.
6) Ángel de Oro & Mephisto b Bárbaro Cavernario & Felino [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
4:59. Cavernario & Felino attacked each other, leading to Felino getting pinned and Cavernario giving up on the match.
7) Gemelo Diablo II & Panterita del Ring b Raziel & Rey Cometa [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f]
3:51.
8) Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón DQ Euforia & Último Guerrero [Torneo Increible de Parejas, 8f] 
5:19. Euforia unmasked Blue Panther for no real reason to draw the DQ.
9) Carístico & Virus b Ángel de Oro & Mephisto [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal] 
5:09
10) Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón b Gemelo Diablo II & Panterita del Ring [Torneo Increible de Parejas, quarterfinal] 
5:03
11) Carístico & Virus b Blue Panther Jr. & Sansón [Torneo Increible de Parejas, semifinal]   
9:14

The tournament matches got a bit more time this week than last week, but none of them stood out strongly. Euforia & Guerrero going out quick mean worse matches. Rey Cometa & Raziel probably should’ve won a few matches to get a good block final, but Blue Panther Jr. & Sanson are big and much more important, so on they went. Panther appeared exhausted in his third match, tripping and falling down running at one point. Caristico using up his one La Mistica in the semifinal frighteningly teased Panther & Sanson were going over in the final and it was a relief when that didn’t happen.

Volador & Templario versus Virus & Caristico should be good, though it’s hard to feel safe about anything being good in CMLL.

Dalys/Lluvia was a standard Dalys exhibition. The men were trying in the first and third, it just didn’t come together in an exciting fashion.

An oddity about this card is only the tercera was a three-falls match on the show. Tournaments block matches and lightning matches are always one fall, and the openers (except for Saturday) are now one fall match. It’s the closest CMLL’s come to having no three fall matches on a show that I can recall. There hasn’t been any big explanation of why CMLL switched those openers to one fall that I’ve seen.x

CMLL (SAT) 06/19/2021 Arena México [CMLL, Furia de Titanes, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiaores]
1) Sagrado & Universo 2000 Jr. b Pegasso & Stigma 
Openers were back to being three falls for no discernible reason.
2) Marcela & Mystique b Amapola & La Infernal 
3) El Audaz & Flyer b Felino Jr. & Luciferno 
Felino Jr. continues to challenge Flyer & Atlantis for a tag title show with whatever person happens to be standing closest to him at the moment.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Hechicero DQ Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus 
Virus unmasked Hechicero
5) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © b Carístico, Místico, Volador Jr. [CMLL TRIOS] 
1st defense

I’m critical of CMLL trios matches for doing the same sequences over and over again – specifically, I’m critical of the dive sequence that always ends with Mistico’s ramp dive because it’s telegraphed a minute ahead of time. I can’t criticize that here, because they didn’t even do that much. This seemed like it would be a professional if a bit lifeless match, but it was less effort than that, significantly less than you’d expect for a big CMLL match. It’s tough to keep expectations low and still be disappointed, but it happened.

I didn’t see much of the rest of the show; the exchanges between Virus & Hechicero sounded like the best bit. Flyer & Mystique had rough nights.

YouTube live viewers of this show way outpaced Twitch viewers as expected; it was something like 3000 on YouTube to 150 to Twitch when I caught the numbers in the main event. It was the same broadcast on both, though those who checked both said Twitch had a slightly better picture quality and was a few seconds ahead of YouTube.

CMLL (SUN) 06/20/2021 Arena México [CMLL, The Gladiatores]
1) Cholo b Leono [lightning]
6:30.
2) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pequeño Violencia
back to being one fall
3) Akuma & Espanto Jr. b Diamond & Drone
Rudos took 1/3.
4) La Jarochita & Princesa Sugehit b Metálica & Reyna Isis
Tecnicas took 1/3.
5) Dragón Rojo Jr., Ephesto, Luciferno b El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr.
Rudos took 1/3. Ephesto replaced Templario in what was said to be his final appearance as Ephesto.
6) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Negro Casas b Místico, Titán, Volador Jr.
Negro Casas asked Titan for a title match

No one’s going to believe Casas has a chance to win a single title at this point but he’s matched up well with Titan in the past. (And I guess it is CMLL, they could have Casas win anyway.)

Weird to put Ephesto over when he’s dumping the gimmick, but he did get to do his trademark surprise cradle one more time under that identity.

Tuesday’s lineup

CMLL (TUE) 06/22/2021 Arena México
1) Fantasy & Shockercito vs Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Violencia
2) Arkalis & Retro vs El Coyote & Grako
3) Magia Blanca, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Espanto Jr., Sagrado
4) El Audaz, Flyer, Stuka Jr. vs Luciferno, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
5) Valiente vs Hechicero
6) Bárbaro Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Felino [Relevos Increíbles]

Valiente/Hechicero follows up on the mask pull from last week. The main event is more Felino/Cavernario.

The opener is the first match for Shockercito since the start of the pandemic. He did not appear in any empty arena shows, though he has turned on spot shows of late.

About half the Tuesday show aired on AMX this week, though on about a week and a half delay. This show would air on July 2nd. MVS got yet another empty arena show. Maybe it takes 10 days to produce everything and they’ll start on Sunday this upcoming week, though it’s hard to figure out why it would take that long. They’re not doing much editing or post-production on these.

No Friday card yet beyond the tournament final, though the PPV pass is already up. That show is back up to 230 in Mexican Pesos, about $11.20 USD.

The COVID status of Mexico City is confusing. Mexico City announced on Friday afternoon that they’d stay in Green health condition for the next two weeks. The country of Mexico announced the full country map later Friday night and said Mexico City’s health stats suggested they needed to return to Yellow health condition, starting today (Monday.) It seems like it’s the states/cities who are in charge of making and enforcing the specific rules under each health code; Mexico City could just decide not to roll back anything if feel they should still be in Green. This policy matters in the short term for CMLL. They’re expecting to be able to increase Arena Mexico attendance to at least 1,500 people starting Friday, and have already put tickets on sale with that configuration for that show. CMLL may still be allowed to do it, it’s totally unclear to me. (The following Tuesday & Sunday shows seem to be in the 500 ticket setup; those may have gone up after the Yellow announcement.)

In the longer term, the Green/Yellow bit matters more to AAA. They need capacity limits to continue to be less limited between now and TripleMania on August 14th. Those have been slow to increase so far. Going backwards is a big problem. AAA hasn’t indicated exactly what they need to be allowed for that show to happen – it’s unclear if they’ll run no matter what, or if they’ll look at pushing it back if they can’t hit a certain number – but it still looms as a major issue that everyone has to wait and see about.

(TripleMania won’t be the only major international show on Augsut 14th; NJPW announced they’ll be running a show in Los Angeles on that date with Jon Moxley and Jay White among others. That show will air in Japanese on NJPW World and in English on FITE. There remains no legal way to watch TripleMania or any AAA content outside of Mexico.)

Shocker appeared in CMLL early on during the empty arena shows but hasn’t been seen this year. He wrestled a few indie shows and he posted a video on Instagram about opening up a bank account for fans to donate to fund his needed jaw operation.

CMLL referees Terror Chino and Bestia Negra have quietly returned to matches since fans have been allowed back in to Arena Mexico, joining referees Edgar Noriega, Tigre Infante, and Olimpico. I have not seen the oldest CMLL referee pre-pandemic, Pompin. Not sure if CMLL’s decided it’s not safe to bring Pompin back yet or if he’s done. He’s around 80 years old so either answer would make sense, though I’d hope a referee for 60+ years would get some send-off one that becomes possible again. Olimpico was added as an emergency replacement for those three older referees and he’s still there.

Arena Coliseo Guadalajara announced Argos among those on Tuesday’s show. That’s in addition to the Black Warrior tease. CMLL announced the lineup already without either man on it, so maybe they’re being added to the main event to make it Caristico, Atlantis Jr. and Argos against Mephisto, Joker and Black Warrior. Caristico has publicly stumped many times for his brother Argos to be brought back to CMLL. He was allowed to wrestle in Arena Coliseo Guadalajara once before in 2019 and it didn’t develop in anything more than that.

Other Notes

IWRG (SUN) 06/20/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Mas Lucha]
1) Lunatik Fly b Halcón Mágico 
2) Black Dragón & Death Metal b Black Maravilla & Ringo Acosta 
3) Dick Angelo 3G, El Bendito, Tonalli b Gravity, Legendario, Puma de Oro 
Bendito remains undefeated since switching gimmicks.
4) Rocky Santana & Romano García b Black Terry & Eragón 
5) Dr. Cerebro, Freelance, Puma de Oro b Dinamic Black, Fly Warrior, Súpernova 
Puma de Oro replaced Aster Boy
6) Abismo Negro Jr., Mamba, Máximo b Aeroboy, Hijo del Alebrije, Jessy Ventura 
win via foul

They seem to be setting up an Abismo Negro/Alebrije mask out of the main event.

AAA , KAOZ (SUN) 06/20/2021 Estadio de Béisbol Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon [@thekoko666, Lo Mejor de Lucha]
1) Komander b Charro Negro ©, Villano III Jr., Toxin, Dinámico (Indie) [KAOZ JC]
Vasco Jr. attacked Komander after the match, while Charro Negro asked for a rematch
2) Kaientai & Lord Byron b Cíclope & Miedo Extremo and Galactar & Rico Rodríguez
3) Black Widow & Sexy Star b Lady Flammer & Reina Dorada [KAOZ WOMEN TAG]
4) Faby Apache, Larry Miranda, Toscano b Dulce Kanela, Lady Shani, Mr. Iguana
5) Hijo Del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr., Octagón Jr. b El Divo, Emperador Azteca, Hijo Del Impostor
El Divo replaced El Dragon
6) Rey Escorpión b Fresero Jr., Konnan Big, Demonio Infernal (IWRG), DMT Azul [KAOZ HEAVY]
Escorpion pinned Demonio Infernal

The bit that’s getting talked about from this show was Vikingo running down the ramp and hitting a Brillo 630 senton. Few people can do a 630 standing still on the top rope, to do it running and springboarding is amazing. Mas Lucha did a live pre-show from the venue so they’ll likely be airing this show at some point.

Photos show a lot of people about this show. Few tickets were sold in the front rows and the VIP areas just a couple of days ago, and those are all full. They seem to have jumped from 500 to 1000, with most of that coming in the expensive areas. I’m not sure if they just let people in GA move up, sold a bunch in the last few days or if the ticket map was just wrong, but it seems to have worked out for them pretty well.

Faby Apache showed up on the Arena Neza show Saturday as a surprise run-in, joining the Dark Cuervo/Sangre Azteca led “Freak Family” indy unit. Cuervo & Apache were a couple last we knew, so this is probably just doing a bit with him and doesn’t affect her AAA work. It is notable because that was an AAA person appearing on a show headlined by Caristico & Hijo de Lizmark versus Volador & Averno.

Chilanga Mask normally annual show took place Saturday in Arena San Juan. I heard disappointing things on Titan/Matt Cross. The show didn’t draw great, but the promoter indicated they’ll be back on in Arena San Juan on July 31st. It reads like the concept is to make up for 2020’s missing Anniversary show.

It’s only been a few days, but no sign of that press conference Rush talked about to explain the Federacion Wrestling situation. Federacion has removed their website; it redirects to their Facebook page now. Not sure why they’d remove the website if they were truly planning on running soon.

BARBA Promotions in Satillo will have Black Taurus vs Laredo Kid vs Dragon Lee on 09/25. Their most recent show (04/24) aired this weekend on Mas Lucha. That one has a Hijo del VIkingo vs Epydemius versus Laredo Kid.

Hidalgo’s Gasparin Jr. is out “six or seven months” after breaking his arm. That’s a pretty bad break.

Periodico Central interviews Pegasso & local wrestler Silver Sun about being wrestlers and policemen.

Box y Lucha announced Coliman (Adrian Reyes, 60) passed away on Thursday. I don’t have much info on him; he appears to be a Tijuana/southern California luchador who made AAA TV once in 2001 when they were in the area.

Box y Lucha 3477 gives the biggest spot to DMT Azul vs Blue Demon.

The most recent Lucha Madre show (listed as May 4th) is now up on IWTV.

Monterrey’s RIOT announced they’ll return to running live shows on August 20 & 21st, with their two-night La Rina tournament.

Segunda Caida watches some pandemic lucha libre.