TJP returns to Arena Mexico tonight, Omega/Vikingo, MexaWrestling/Banks

CMLL

Tonight is TJP’s return to Arena Mexico; he appears to be around for the weekend. CMLL posted a TJP promo where he teased bringing in other members of NJPW’s United Empire on future shows. The United Empire is a relatively new group including Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, the Great O-Khan,  Aaron Henare, and tag team Aussie Open. I presumed Cobb would be staying in Japan for the World Tag League, but he just got announced for a Defy show so maybe he’ll be back long enough to come to Mexico. Cobb has previously worked in Mexico for AAA (as LU’s Matanza)  and the Crash. Ospreay is also wrestling around the US for the time being, so it’s possible he could show up in the future. Ospreay showing up in Arena Mexico would be the biggest NJPW name to be sent there since Naito showed up in 2019 on the way to the ROH/MSG show.

Tonight’s show does not air live. It’ll air on TV on 10/30 and on YouTube 11/07.

CMLL (SUN) 10/24/2021 Arena México
1) Eléctrico & Inquisidor vs Cholo & Oro Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
2) Avispa Dorada, La Vaquerita, Skadi vs La Comandante, La Metálica, Tiffany
3) Diamond, Magnus, Stigma vs Akuma, Enfermero Jr., Espanto Jr.
4) Esfinge, Kráneo, Star Jr., Volcano vs Dark Magic, Gran Guerrero, Okumura, Rey Bucanero
5) Atlantis Jr. & Fugaz vs Cavernario & TJP

TJP is the kind of outside veteran then Atlantis Jr. and Fugaz need to experience wrestling against so that’s good booking to see.

Worth noting for a correction for last week: TJP says he’s not anti-mask or anti-vaccine, he’s anti-mandates. I’m pro COVID-mandates.

Rey Bucanero has his first match in Arena Mexico since a private show on September 15th. He was attacked outside of Arena Mexico by a mystery man implied to be Veneno since they were feuding in Bucanero’s promotion. Bucanero is now teaming with Veneo on his next show. Maybe it’ll end up with a break-up, just like the maybe Valiente booked show at his gym this past week ended with Valiente & Volador breaking up. Probably it’s hard to replace the current CMLL booking crew because there’s no one else on the roster showing they’ve got any better or modern ideas than those already in charge.

There is no obvious reason the opener has tencicos and rudos teaming beyond that’s just what happens now. CMLL’s recently done it when they didn’t have an even tecnico/rudo balance but that’s not the concern there.

CMLL (MON) 10/25/2021 Arena Puebla
1) Fénix So vs Sombra Diabólika
2) Astro & Shockercito vs Asturiano & Pierrothito [Relevos Increíbles]
3) Magnus, Pegasso, Stigma vs El Perverso, Felino Jr., Pólvora
4) Guerrero Maya Jr., Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Raziel, Virus
5) Místico vs Euforia

Semi-main is a rematch, and likely setting up a title match on 11/01.

CMLL (TUE) 10/26/2021 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Micro, Obelisk, Raven vs Conde, Persa, Ponzoña Jr.
2) El Divino, Luminoso, Mr. Samurai vs Infierno, Mr. Trueno, Rey Trueno
3) Explsoivo, Fantástico, Star Black vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
4) Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto vs Furia Roja, Guerrero de la Muerte, Ráfaga
5) Atlantis & Místico vs Averno & Satánico

Averno makes his return. I thought perhaps they’d set up an Averno/Mistico singles match for the Guadalajara Dia de Muertos show on 11/02, but Mistico is already announced for Arena Mexico that day.

Los Infernales were doing CMLL’s media rounds this week. Reporte Indigo‘s post says they’re meant to be called Los Infernales Consagrados; no one else is using it so maybe hold off on that one. Satanico also mentions that one of the ideas they had for the group was two established wrestlers teaming with one younger wrestler from Guadalajara. That’d continue the tradition of developing wrestlers in the group, and I guess it’s always possible they could add more people later. Satanico’s teamed with veteran Furia Roja in some Arena Coliseo Guadalajara matches, though I’d guess the actual Guadalajara pick would’ve been Difunto. He’s got a masked look that would work with Los Infernales and got a brief look on the CDMX roster just before the pandemic stoppage.

Guadalajara’s Nautica and Sexy Sol were interviewed while in town. Nautica mentioned she and fellow Arena Coliseo Guadalajara wrestler Frenetico (now Infierno) are cousins, and they both started training at 12.

In one of many things I was wrong about, CMLL Informa didn’t talk about their NFT releases at all. They just promoted them on social media, I guess assuming people would already care. SportsIcon was initially advertising just two NFT videos, and those were released today for 0.50 in Flow cryptocurrency, which is about $7 USD. That’s 140 Mexican pesos, though it’s notable there is no peso conversion on the pages. They’ve since quietly added about 10 more, at sightly more expensive prices. The rest are at a sightly higher cost and much smaller quantity, probably to encourage scarcity. These are still low enough prices that this is more about using novelty factor to get people into the NFT/Flow marketplace in hopes they’d spend more. I still don’t think many CMLL fans care about this and these NFTs will largely be bought up by existing NFT speculators. If you want a NFT of KeMonito doing a plancha, you can spend about $21 USD for it until supplies run out. You can also just right click the video and download it without the NFT numbering.

AAA

10/23 AAA on Space at 5 pm

• Arcano versus Venenoide
• Arez & Chik Tormenta vs Maravilla & Villano III Jr. for the AAA Mixed Tag Team Championship
• Laredo Kid, Hijo del Vikingo, Murder Clown vs La Empresa

We have not seen Marvel Lucha Libre since TripleMania. This is the first of 2 or 3 weeks taped in Xalapa.

Dorian Roldan, Jose Manuel Guillen, and Arturo Rivera were interviewed for about 90 minutes on the Voices del Deporte Mexicano Facebook page on Wednesday. Roldan mentioned the final Lucha Por la Identidad tapings – the tourist tour shows – will be in Tabasco starting on 11/04. That’s a Thursday, most tapings have been two sets over threes, so I’m presuming there are matching tapings on Saturday 11/06. Roldan didn’t mention plans for AAA taping beyond that.

I still don’t know if TripleMania Regia is airing live or being delayed. AAA told me they’re working on plans but don’t have anything to announce yet. To me, the 11/04 tape date leads to scenarios where AAA is airing a taped show the day of TripleMania Regia. It doesn’t mean that’s the way it’s going to go – they could also bank episodes for the holiday period or early 2022.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter says AAA is talking to FTR about coming for those 11/04 tapings. AAA needs to do something to establish FTR to an audience unlikely to know them, but matches in an empty building may not really do it. It didn’t seem to work for Purrazzo Perhaps sending in promos (or even a match) from AEW would be the better use of time. FTR has the advantage of airing on the same station as AAA at least where AAA fans would only previously know Purrazzo if they found Impact on 52MX.

Mas Lucha posted a column critical of AAA for booking a Hijo del Vikingo versus Kenny Omega. I don’t agree with the column, but it’s a justifiable take and a good reality check. Fans on social media are excited for Hijo del Vikingo and Kenny Omega because they’ve seen what both have done individually and expect even better with them together. Mexican fans who participate in lucha libre with other ways may see Vikingo as a non-heavyweight who can’t possibly be as good as successful guys like Laredo Kid and Dragon Lee who’ve already lost to Omega. That size bias would still likely be there no matter how Vikingo has been used, but that’s a real cost to how AAA’s decided to use Vikingo. The price of putting on the best matches possible on each show has led fans to see Vikingo as a guy who couldn’t beat the guys who couldn’t beat Omega and isn’t deserving of this title match. AAA has six weeks of TV to address it, if they can and if it’s a concern to them. (Take a look at the matches scheduled and tell me if you think Vikingo is winning this week.) I’d like to see Vikingo win the mega title but I remained concerned at the reaction if he does.

Andrade is wrestling in Puebla on 12/03, so he’ll be around during TripleMania Regia. I think he’d be on the poster if he was booked (and one hold up on him winning the title back at TripleMania reportedly was he and AAA had not yet agreed on future dates.) There’s always a chance he could be Escorpion & Taurus’ partner.

AAA airs at 5 pm on Space again this week due to AEW Dynamite airing live at 7 pm. AEW will returns to Wednesdays for the rest of the year after that, so AAA will return to 6:30 pm.

MexaWrestling and Travis Banks

Mexa Wrestling (SAT) 10/30/2021 Arena San Juan Pantitlan, Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, Estado de México
1) Baby Star & Sussy Love vs Arandu & Lady Lee
2) Noicy Boy, Sol, Spider Fly vs Big Mike, Fly Warrior, Fulgor I
3) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura vs Corsario Negro Jr., Drako, Hijo del Fishman
4) Toxin vs Iron Kid vs Travis Banks
5) Toro Negro Jr. vs Dr. Cerebro [falls count anywhere]
6) Demonic Flamita vs Aramis

I really hoped that the blowback from Travis Banks working the Big Lucha show would’ve ended things right there. That hope was a mistake. If you’ve been following on Instagram, it’s apparent Banks and his girlfriend are hanging out with (and likely living with) the wrestlers from Big Lucha and other Mexico City indie wrestlers. Bandido did not lie when he said he’d no longer book Banks on his show again, but that appears to be a very narrow promise – Bandido and the rest didn’t otherwise disassociate from Banks. Those who are making US money are less likely to work matches with Banks as to not risk it, but that’s largely just for appearance’s sake.

The die was cast here the moment Banks wrestled on the Big Lucha show and no one in Mexico cared about it enough to make an issue or even a minor story. Not a single person on MexaWrestling’s Facebook has complained about Banks being included in comments; the only time his name has come up was a person hoping to see still him after the original match was deleted. People have reached out to these wrestlers – even some people you might not expect to get involved in a situation like this – to strongly advise the wrestlers to get away from Banks. Most if not all of that is coming through social media, and it’s pretty easy to just turn that off if you don’t care for what it’s saying. No one in Mexico City is putting similar pressure.

In Mexico, I suspect Travis Banks has come off as a charming nice guy who’s happy to show these guys stuff he learned, enough so that they’re willing to believe whatever side of the story he’s been telling. MexaWrestling is going to get attention for booking him first, but I suspect he’ll be in many of the usual Mexico City indies if he sticks around. This is a non-issue to them.

Travis Banks is probably living in a gym in Mexico, working small shows for small paydays, shows that only the people outside of Mexico who follow my Twitter account even know exists. I’m sure he considers it a success that he’s found someplace to wrestle again, though it’s not the career he had or will ever have again. He still probably considers it some victory. It feels like a decent size loss for the rest of us.

In some ways, this is a story about how starved Mexico indies are for foreign talent. The anonymous Canadians featured in IWRG are less problematic as far as I know but embraced similarly. Guys with little to moderate success elsewhere are eagerly embraced as huge difference makers. I don’t sense most Mexican fans care or even know who these guys are, but the wrestlers and promoters are generally putting these shows together for their own excitement.

Flamita versus Aramis should be one of the best matches of the year. Not sure I’ll get around to watching it.

Other Notes

IWRG (THU) 10/21/2021 Arena Naucalpan [Furia de Titanes, IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Limbo & Shalom b Baby Star & Sol 
2) Diosa Quetzal & Lolita b Diosa Atenea & Satania 
Lolita & Diosa Quetzal were friends on Sunday but broke up after this match
3) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo Del Pandemónium, Pandemoniun Jr. b Apolo Estrada Jr., Billy Jones, Chris Stone Jr. [EdM Trios, quarterfinal] 
La Pandemia face Jaucan (Toaalli’s trio) in the semifinals
4) Aster Boy b Puma de Oro 
sets up an IWRG LIGHT title match
5) Fulgor, Giant Orión, Lil Blay b Caballero de Plata, Hijo del Alebrije, Toxin 
Fulgor gave Alebrije a maritnete, Alebrije was strechered out
6) Diva Salvaje, Estrella Divina, Jessy Ventura b Oficial 911, Oficial AK47, Oficial Fierro [EdM Trios, semifinal] 
Jessy Ventura’s nose was fractured but Los Shotas still won. They advance to the final, which will be on the 10/31 show.

Ventura’s nose was fractured due to carelessness. She took a back elbow in the ring, then got hit in the face by a chair tossed from outside the ring. It was a freak accident that Ventura got hurt, though one caused by recklessly throwing a chair.

Relampago underwent surgery for his broken foot today. He thanked the fans and IWRG for their support.

Mexico State boxing and wrestling commissioners Juan Jose Herrera says the state reaching a green COVID light will allow wrestling to be restarted in the area. It’s hard to see determine what shows have actually been shut down the last few months.

If you are in Mexico, the Perro Aguayo documentary is still viewable this weekend online. It’s only available in Mexico.

Andrade wrestles PAC on tonight’s AEW Rampage. Andrade, in an interview with Multimedios, mentioned he signed a three year deal with AEW. That’s about what was expected but AEW had been evasive about the length in the past.

Arez faces Ninja Mack and Psycho Clown wrestles Effy on Saturday’s GCW show, a $15 PPV. Psycho Clown is going to be more over and wrestle better than people in the US expect; I think he’s still just seen as a gimmick character and he’s more than that.

Impact Wrestling has their Bound for Glory show on Saturday as well. I believe Laredo Kid and Black Taurus are in a 20 man Gauntlet (royal rumble) but haven’t been announced. Impact’s early promotion of the show pushed the idea of AEW, NJPW, and AAA wrestlers appearing. AEW and NJPW wrestlers will be in title matches, the AAA guys are not being featured the same way. (There’s still time, Impact could add Black Taurus versus Laredo Kid for either title belt if they so desired.) That’s really not a surprise, it’s about where we’ve been taught to expect Mexican wrestlers to be treated in the US compared to wrestlers from other countries. It’s just worth keeping in mind every time a promotion does one of these bits and everyone hopes it’s going to be Hijo del Vikingo showing up. Maybe one day it will, but probably only after many times of being let down.

(aside 1: The AEW bit this weekend where Cody Rhodes is dressing up as Fuego del Sol this weekend is being done in good spirits as a payoff for a bit on Sammy Guevera’s vlog, but it’s also the second time in about a week where AEW is having someone dress up as a luchador. The aesthetics of lucha libre might be the most popular look of wrestling in the US, but only in a dress aspect like a child playing a doctor or a ghost for Halloween. Mexican wrestlers and Mexican wrestling history is not at all popular among English-speaking audiences. I can’t imagine a scenario where AEW would be goofing around about a wrestler pretending to be from NJPW in 2021. And I feel cranky and old complaining about any of this because I’m sure Fuego nor Rhodes are doing this bit just to have a bit of fun and don’t mean anything negative about it.)

(aside 2: that common phrase “el mejor de lucha libre de mundo”, the belief that Mexican wrestling is the best in the world. This is said constantly as fact by both people in lucha libre and regular Mexicans just talking about – it was presented as an obvious truth in that AAA panel discussion to lead into talk asking why it’s the best. No one in Mexican wrestling actually acts like they believe this is true. If someone from outside of Mexico comes in, they’re a much bigger star than Mexican wrestlers and start at the top. If a Mexican wrestler goes some place else, they’ve got to start at the bottom to prove they’re any good. The Bandido Gym guys are willing to work with Travis Banks because they believe his style of wrestling is significantly better than what they’ve been taught so far and they need to adapt to “Strong Style” to be better wrestlers. AAA has felt the best way to be accepted by fans is to have as many non-Mexican champions as possible. Mexican wrestling doesn’t present themselves as if they’re better than any other kind of wrestling or even on par to any other kind of wrestling, they’re treating themselves as if they’re struggling to catch up even as they insist they’re the best style. Maybe they’re correct and Mexican wrestling is a minor league, but it’s certainly going to stay that way if no one even acknowledges the obvious contradictions.)

The 10/29 Tres Caidas show in Tijuana was originally advertised as Bandido versus Ultimo Guerrero. CMLL wrestlers have been told not to wrestle Bandido, though Ultimo Guerrero seems to live by his own rules. Not this time, apparently – the final main event is Bandido versus Laredo Kid vs Destiny.

There’s an inexplicable CMLL versus AAA battle in the Chicago suburbs on November 7th. GALLI had announced a while back they were going to run a big show for their 500th event, with Psycho Clown, Arez, Aramis, Mesias, La Empresa, AEW’s Dante Martin and others announced. Rival group Lucha Libre Total also announced they’ll be running with Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Mephisto and Stuka on the same day at about the same time, 15 minutes away (and at the location GALLI ran a recent big show.) There’s a lot of people willing to spend money on lucha libre in the Chicago area but two shows at expensive prices on the same night is probably not going to work out for one promotion. Maybe both.

I think I’ll end up at the GALLI show if I can bother to leave the house. For the rest of you, this means those four CMLL guys aren’t on the 11/07 Dia del Muertos show.

11/21 PWG includes

• Demonic Flamita vs Dragon Lee
• Aramis & Rey Horus vs Davey Richards & Lio Rush
• Alex Shelley vs Bandido (c) for the PWG Championships

(Impact is taping on 11/21, so no Black Taurus or Laredo Kid.)

11/27 RIOT (Mark Tank)

• Kratoz vs Demonio del Aire vs Prometeo, winner receives a title shot – new

RIOT announced this will be their final show at Arena Femenil. All normal RIOT shows have been held at Lucha Libre Femenil’s home. The “building” is really a covered parking lot by day. There was less parking during the pandemic, the building has been slightly remolded to open for other businesses, and those changes make it rough for a promotion bringing in as many wrestlers as RIOT does for their shows. (LLF also hasn’t had a regular schedule due to the pandemic but tends to use fewer wrestlers per show, so this may not affect them.) Arena Femenil is in an easy-to-walk to downtown Monterrey location and the fans seemed to really like it. RIOT had outgrown the building before the pandemic but didn’t seem like they were going to leave because everyone liked the location so much and there’s no nearby obvious alternative. They’ll have to find somewhere new now.

Tickets are on sale for Lucha Memes’ 12/18 show at Arena Coliseo. The sort of on sale dates are often built around a big name. The only thing that’s been announced so far are Puebla’s Rey Apocalipsis & Toro Bill Jr. appearing.

LuchaWorld has the latest Lucha Report.