CMLL September Plans
CMLL announced their plans for September on a busy CMLL Informa this past Wednesday. There will be two big shows:
September 17th with be the make-up show for Homenaje a Dos Leyendas 2020. That had the misfortune of being the first Friday night show canceled by the pandemic. Felino versus Barbaro Cavernario was scheduled to be the main event and they’ve tried to keep the feud warm since Cavernario returned from his foot injury. Sangre Chicana will still be honored. The rest of the show may be redrawn up; the original card included a trios title match with a team that’s no longer champion and a women’s title match that’s happened in the 18 months wait. Felino/Cavernario was delayed in hopes of being able to open Arena Mexico to a larger amount of fans. It doesn’t seem likely that’s happening any time soon, so they likely just got tired of waiting. It’s a running joke that current CMLL’s only plan for big shows is to have Negro Casas lose his hair; his brother losing his hair is likely to be greatly mocked.
September 24th will be CMLL’s 88th Aniversario show. The show last year was a no-fans show with title matches selected by the fans. This year’s show should have fans, fingers crossed, and will also be a “fans pick the title match” concept. No championships were specified, though CMLL indicated polling would open soon on CMLL’s website.
Last year’s show had four of the seven matches changed because of COVID or injury. CMLL made up most of the missing matches, though they never quite got around to the Hechicero/Templario/Terrible trios title challenge.
The other stories from the show were the really obvious winner and unexpected ones. Bandido was brought back and put in the poll with the clear idea of making Aniversario special with an outside name. The Atrapsuenos & Los Cancerberos appeared the opposite, names included just because CMLL had to use someone who ended up riding a wave of fan support into title matches. I’m not sure if those stories can repeat in 2021. CMLL seems more shut off than before, so a notable outside name would be a big surprise. I can’t identify a non-pushed act who would get a lot of fan support. Hechicero comes closest, I wouldn’t call him non-pushed but I’m certain he’ll do very well if included. Maybe we’ll all get a surprise.
More CMLL News
CMLL (FRI) 08/06/2021 Arena México
1) Shockercito & Último Dragóncito vs Pequeño Violencia & Pierrothito
2) Audaz, Pegasso, Stigma vs Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr.
3) Atlantis Jr., Esfinge, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Felino Jr., Pólvora, Rey Bucanero
4) La Guerrera, Marcela, Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, Reyna Isis, Stephanie Vaquer
5) Gran Guerrero, Templario, Último Guerrero vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón
CMLL told the press this show won’t be streamed, and neither will next week’s show. The 08/27 show is scheduled to stream; CMLL and TicketMaster previously said those who bought the July 30th show will be getting that show instead. I’m not sure about the 08/20 show, but I’d guess it’ll be offered someway since it’s the first part of the Universal tournament. It is a bit counter productive to promote the idea of giving women a bigger spot the same moment you’ve decided to not stream those shows, but streaming is such a small part of CMLL’s plans.
Friday night CMLL shows air the following Saturday on Televisa and the Sunday after that on YouTube; this show will be available on YouTube 08/22. The era of regular free live CMLL shows seems to be over unless a company like Marca steps up to pay for them on their network. The weekly Ticketmaster Live shows have not appeared to be a success. There are reasons for that under CMLL & Ticketmaster’s control, they’ve made little attempts to fix them, and have apparently decided it’s not worth the effort to do so. My guess is the big shows will generally be on TicketmasterLive if they can’t get a sponsored deal.
Not sure what I’m going to do with myself tonight. This show doesn’t look important and I’m fine missing it. I’ve missed others when I had other things going on and I was pretty close to giving up watching them late last year. Still, these not being available is a rarity since about the summer of 2015. CMLL didn’t air a few of their major shows and didn’t tell anyone, so I guess knowing this advance give me some awareness to go out and see Suicide Squad or something.
Informa also announced two gimmick changes. Drone will be returning to the Hombre Bala Jr. name. He’d wrestled under that name through October 2016. Hombre Bala Sr. passed away in 2018 and the son will be returning to the name to honor his father. Infrequently seen but highly regarded opening match rudo Yago will wrestle as Enfermero Jr. starting tonight. CMLL brought back Jaque Mate, who wrestled as Enfermero Jr. in the late 70s and early 80s before switching to his more famous persona, to endorse the gimmick change.
Yago and Drone – or now Enfermero Jr. & Hombre Bala Jr. – are two guys at different points of their careers. They share that this is a good time for a new look if CMLL is going for them, and meaningless if they’re going to be in the same spot. Enfermero Jr.’s seemed like he has the talent to be a reliable young (-ish; he’s older than you think) midcard rudo in a promotion who could definitely use one, but he’s just not booked much. It’s clear he does have some CMLL backing – he wouldn’t have won that mask match in 2019 without it – but he also disappears for long stretches and can’t escape the midcard. The best example of his plight is that CMLL appeared to tape something along the lines of a Gran Alternativa in 2020 – not sure if it was an actual one or just something with that opening guy/main event guy themes – and Yago apparently won, but then CMLL just never aired it for reasons unknown. It’s a little bit mysterious. Maybe having the oft-used evil doctor gimmick will get him booked more often.
The Enfermero Jr. and Hijo del Enfermero names have been used by a few wrestlers over time. There’s another active Hijo del Enfermero based in Torreon who’s appeared in Monterrey for Lucha Time and came to Mexico City back in May. This wrestler posted a video to Facebook (pointed out by The Gladaitores) where he seems to say he also got permission to use the name from Jaque Mate/Hijo del Enfermero, permission that’s now being revoked, but he feels he has the right to continue using it and plans on doing so. Hijo del Enfermero is booked in Arena Lopez Mateoz next Friday, where this may come to a head.
Drone/Hombre Bala’s issues are not a mystery. He was a tecnico on the rise, working his way into title pictures and international tours, when he showed up for a 2018 FantasticaMania match appearing to be drunk. Drone claimed it was a bad reaction to medicine among other reasons, fans generally didn’t believe him, and CMLL taking him off cards for six weeks after they returned to Mexico was a sign they didn’t believe Drone either. He’s done nothing of significance for the last two and half years when he should’ve been having been moving into his biggest matches. His in-ring performance suffered, though he’s looked closer to his old form in the last six months or so. Drone screwed up pretty badly but, if you’re going to keep employing him, he’s served his time and CMLL needs fresh faces, so you might as well see if he can handle a push again. I’m less certain it’ll happen for Hombre Bala Jr. than Enfermero Jr. – this change was framed as Hombre Bala Jr.’s idea, not something the promotion had to get him going – but I’d give him a shot at this point.
Sunday’s lineup is also out. I think CMLL has taken the position that none of these lineups really matter when they’re now only being released about two ahead of time.
CMLL (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena México
1) Angelito & Fantasy vs Mercurio & Pequeño Olímpico
2) Eléctrico, Hombre Bala Jr., Oro Jr. vs Disturbio, Inquisidor, Magnus
3) Blue Panther Jr., Dark Panther, Luciferno vs Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa, Vangellys [Relevos Increíbles]
4) La Jarochita, La Magnifica, Skadi vs Amapola, La Seductora, Reyna Isis
5) Carístico, Panterita del Ring, Titán vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Mephisto
The women get a semi-main spot here. Tercera looks like a setup for a Mexican tag title match.
IWRG
IWRG (THU) 08/05/2021 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Black Shadow II & Sobredosis b Halcón Magic & Spider Fly 
2) Legendario & Rey Halcón Jr. b Baby Star & Noicy Boy 
3) Ambu, Carrillo, Pistolero, Reptilium, Secreto Negro, Shango b Caballero de Plata, Hellboy, Kenji, Lunaitk Fly, Sol, Tonalli
4) Alas De Plata, Aster Boy, Diosa Quetzal DQ Dick Angelo 3G, Diosa Atenea, Puma de Oro
Tonalli ran in for the DQ (to fight with Puma)?
5) Hijo del Espectro & Hijo del Fishman DQ Diva Salvaje & Jessy Ventura
Espectro & Fishman are “El Veneno Lagunero”. Abismo Negro Jr. turned up and attacked Las Shotas for the DQ, with Hijo del Alebrije making the save and confronting Abismo again.
Very much a “here is some matches” outing for IWRG, with the big matches a week from Sunday at the Guerra de Golfo show or otherwise down the road.
IWRG (SUN) 08/08/2021 Arena Naucalpan
1) Baby Star & Sol vs Black Shadow II & Legendario
2) Bengalee & Kariel vs Amazonika & Satania
3) Dinamic Black, Eragón, Noicy Boy vs Fulgor, Peligro, Rey Halcón
4) Estrella Divina, King Charro, Mexica vs Dick Angelo 3G, Hijo del Fishman, Hijo Del Picudo
5) Asterboy vs Tonalli, Puma de Oro, Arvak
6) Aramis & Myzteziz Jr. vs Hijo del Espectro & Toxin
The main event should be good but it’s disappointing when Vikingo & Bandido were advertised for this show and didn’t appear. Maybe I misunderstood and it’s next week? Maybe something changed? Not the most confusing IWRG thing of the week at least.
Long-time IWRG trainer/wrestler Bombero Infernal is on a ventilator, as revealed in a fundraising drive organized by one of his sons (Teelo) on Monday on Facebook. The assumption is this is another COVID case but the post doesn’t specify the illness.
AAA
AAA put out the official poster for TripleMania Thursday. Nothing too big but quick points
- DMT Azul & Sam Adonis are indeed listed as Puma King’s partners, which didn’t stop AAA from once again tweeting out the “Puma and two mystery partners” graphic minutes later.
- The women’s match being moved to third will be seen as disrespectful but it’s such a big better spot than going after the sure to be wild Empresa/AAA brawl. They get to have a normal match after a battle royal that probably won’t be any good, that’s probably much better.
- The Copa Baradahl TripleMania will be a 12 luchador match where we only know three of them. Drago, Mr. Iguana, and Mamba remain the only ones announced; that seems like a place for the usual Michael Nakazawa appearance.
- The Marvel match is listed as Team Leyenda Americana versus Team Terror Purpura. The (large) illustration implies the match is Leyenda America, Estrella Cosmica, and Arcano versus Terror Pupura, Picadura Letal and Venenonide. AAA advertised that match with new Marvel Lucha Libre names, so maybe more people will be added. They’d like to you use #TeamLeyenda or #TeamTerror on social media to support your favorite side; I think I’m on too many watch lists already to type #TeamTerror on Twitter.
AAA has their final TV show before TripleMania Saturday night on Space. They taped this last week, so they could’ve run some angles to heighten the interest in their upcoming matches. Nothing in AAA has seemed all that urgent so I don’t count on much.
Impact Wrestling last night set up a Deonna Purrazzo versus Melina match for the Impact Knockouts Championship on August 28th, on a NWA’s PPV. Mickie James is scheduled to defend that title against Faby Apache next Saturday at TripleMania and this is another sign everyone expects her to be champion after the show. I guess a draw is possible, but it’s seemed like Purrazzo is winning the match and the Reina de Reinas title since the match was announced and that’s now more likely.
El Heraldo de Mexico has an interview with Mr. Iguana as the TripleMania press tour begins.
One of the curiosities around the upcoming Arena Puebla limitations is there’s an AAA show in Puebla next Sunday (the day after TripleMania) which seemed to have no problems running. A press conference this past week announced that AAA show will have to run at 30% capacity among other distancing rules. No word on if dives will be allowed. Psycho Clown & Rey Escorpion are going to crazy things to each other late on Saturday night and then somehow haul themselves up the road to Puebla for an evening show the next day, AAA’s schedule is brutal.
AAA picked up a drywall sponsor.
Other News
Mohicano I (Guillermo Nicolás Merino, 60) has passed away Wednesday, according to Box y Lucha and SuperLuchas. I’ve seen the deceased mentioned as Mohicano II on Facebook, but those sources have it as the first Mohicano and the name matches what we’ve had for Mohicano I on the luchawiki. The Mohicanos and the Apaches had a long-running feud between native-themed luchadors, and the Mohicanos remained notable Mexico State indie names from the 80s to the 10s.
Arena Roberto Paz ring announcer Willy Martinez has passed away.
Robles Patron Promociones is doing an autograph signing today (Friday) at 4-6 pm to promote their upcoming 08/26 Mexico City show. I haven’t been complimentary to most things this promotion is doing, but that autograph signing seems like a smart and important way to help kickstart those tickets. A more confusing business decision is Robles Promociones (no Alberto) announcing a show for two weeks late in Arena Lopez Mateos. It’s about the same names as the Pepsi Center – Alberto and LA Park are replaced by Vampiro & Pagano – and a much cheaper ticket, though pricey for an Arena Lopez Mateos show. It’s not the exact same fanbase they’re drawing from, but it’s pretty close. I’m not sure why they would compete with themselves in this fashion.
The first Bandido/Vikingo singles match ever takes place tonight (Friday) at Arena Neza. I don’t expect full-out effort on a random Arena Neza show, though both of those people are crazy. There’s no known live stream but those shows always turn up on YouTube with a half dozen different uploaders; you’ll normally be able to watch it by Saturday.
ROH’s announced enough relevant matches for their upcoming TV shows that I need some bullet points to keep them sorted. Sorted by the weekend they start airing
- 08/07: Bandido & Rey Horus vs Chris Dickinson & Brody King
- 08/14: Bandido, Dragon Lee, Chris Dickinson, Homicide, Jonathan Gresham versus The Briscoes, EC3, Flip Gordon, Josh Woods
- 08/21: Rey Horus vs Demonic Flamita in a
super libreno disqualification match- the next two ROH live shows are also this same weekend
Mr. Iguana challenges Aramis for the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre show on their 08/21 show. I’m going to a sure-to-be silly AEW show the night before but that match might get me to go to shows back-to-back nights. (Not sure they’re going to be enough for a third one on Sunday.)
CaraLucha says Dragon Lee will be on their 09/16 return show. He has not wrestled much in Mexico this year, though it looks like he’s going to be around for a couple of dates in September. (He’s on a 09/25 show too.) Dragon Lee also seems like a suspect for the still unresolved Taurus mystery partner spot.
LuchaWorld has this week’s Lucha Report.
Rey Mysterio Sr. told El Sol de Tijuana he felt Dominik Mysterio was rushed on TV too fast but hopes he’ll do well given more time.
Bandido’s Gym will hold a bodybuilding contest in December. You have to be a member at the gym for three months to join, but it’s not limited to luchadors. CMLL’s in-house bodybuilding contest was canceled last year due to the pandemic.
A newspaper article asks why lucha libre isn’t an Olympic sport. This article takes it somewhat seriously while also doesn’t appear to be too knowledgeable about what lucha libre is. It’s possible to make a case that lucha libre (or professional wrestling in general) is similar to Olympic sports judged for artistic merit, but they do point out that the real issue would be coming up with a worldwide governing body and the overall organization needed to even get consideration in the first place.
irl buddy flipping around on pluto tv noticed the AAA channel was active
we both assumed it died in the FMV hoo-hah?
No, it’s been on all along. I suspect they can’t really get out of that deal.
It’s funny… Kris Zellner brings up WWE getting a residency in Vegas. But here is CMLL being the pioneer of taking a residency in Mexico City, and not giving a shit about their creative, only their profits. Just reading that they are only streaming the next couple of shows made me realize how much the CMLL I loved watching growing up has faded so much. I must be the CMLL equivalent to a WWE fan, because I sometimes watch, and think things will turn around. Maybe after they sell the compa… Oh wait that sounds familiar too.
Iwrg commentators said during the streaming that bandido will not be there for medical reasons, he will be replaced by myzteziz
Dumb question, I’ve only really followed CMLL weekly since the streaming era, what was it like before then. Was it just finding random shows with random matches, much like the CMLL show schedule now?
It was a lot more work. A few people super generously helping to record TV shows that weren’t available to others and uploading those to the internet. It’s easier now because some of those channels are available through the internet, but I’ve also specifically not asked for help in recording shows this time around because it was just too much work for those people helping for not much benefit.
CMLL definitely took after the WWE model and moved towards just being a tourist attraction while still selling the tagline of the “series & stable” for the few hardcore fans left. Those fans still live in fantasy land & ignore all the obvious signs of CMLL’s change because they are forever living in this CMLL vs AAA war. The problem for CMLL is without tourists their business is non-existent. That’s why the current situation they are in is so dire. They can’t sustain for much longer if this stretches deep into 2022. I mean they can sustain but selling off the arena/land/parking is way more valuable than to keep 100+ guys employed by just running shows where you can’t even break 500 tickets. Something will have to give at some point if they can’t start opening up to more people.
The real funny thing is CMLL in a way is exactly what Antonio Pena would have always wanted with AAA. I’m sure Joaquin and especially Dorian were super envious. Not a single person on the CMLL roster matters at all. Tourists don’t even know Atlantis. You just have to send out warm bodies & you could have thousands in the crowd. The quality of wrestling doesn’t matter. Nothing. Somehow CMLL fell into it & now covid is threatening to ruin everything.
If the tourism industry doesn’t return to what it was & CMLL needs to rely on drawing actual hardcore fans which means improving the quality of the product – they’ll need new leadership or they are definitely going the way of the UWA sooner rather than later. But there are forces within the company who are more worried about protecting their spots or their girlfriend’s spots over ensuring the company survives. It’s one of the worst backstage atmopsheres I’ve ever heard of in wrestling when I talk to some of those guys. Imagine you work in Arena Mexico and your goal is literally just to check in for attendance, get out of there, return for your match & leave as qucik as possible to avoid all the toxicity. I feel bad for the handful of guys left with actual talent because they are just sticking it out hoping for New Japan to swoop in and bring them over for well paid tours. They don’t even understand how financially crippled New Japan has been during this as well.
Are you surprised they’ve not made cuts, or are the contracts so worthless it doesn’t matter if you have 10 or 200 on the roster if you only pay them on the house the dates they work?
Tourism won’t be back for a long time to pre-pandemic levels, if anything Covid could cover over the cracks of decisions they’re unwilling to make.
Rob,
I cant see the tourism industry getting back to pre-pandemic levels for a few years due to a combination of international travel and global economy. CMLL must be aware of this, or someone in that organisation that they’re not going to be bussing people in for sometime yet.
Are you surprised that nobody has been cut yet, or do the contracts mean so little as I assume they’re paid on the house on the dates they are given so no difference on 10 wrestlers or 200?
The danger is that covid could actually paper over some of these cracks, until it is too late.
It’s not totally the house – or no one would’ve worked the no-fan shows – but that’s a big enough factor that there’s no advantage gained to making cuts.