CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 08/05/2022 Arena México [CMLL, Estrellas del Ring, Kaiser Sports, Mas Lucha, R de Rudo, The Gladiatores, The Gladiatores (video), thecubsfan]
1) Angelito & Último Dragóncito b Mercurio & Pierrothito 
2) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit DQ Dark Silueta, Metálica, Reyna Isis
straight falls, Isis DQed for removing Jarochita’s mask
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible b Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black
4) Atlantis, Atlantis Jr., Soberano Jr. b Fuerza Guerrera, Stuka Jr., Templario [Relevos Increíbles] 
5) Gran Guerrero, Robbie Eagles, Último Guerrero b Averno, Dragón Rojo Jr., Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
Eagles beat Dragon Rojo, setting up a CMLL MIDDLE
This was a solid show of building matches up for later on. Good while it was on, fine if you missed it.
The three Anivesario feuds in the semi-main came off as all-important, and in good position for the Aniversario. (Less so the Averno/UG one in the main.) Robbie Eagles versus Dragon Rojo was set up well but still felt surprising. Dragon Rojo’s just hung around matches 4/5 with no real focus since returning last March. Even his CMLL Middleweight title win was a quiet blip on the radar, coming on an Arena Coliseo show with not much build=up and with no defenses so far. Dragon Rojo has a history of surprising victories over NJPW wrestlers in the past; he won this same title the first time by upsetting Jushin Lyger, and he’s got a win over Prince Devitt (Finn Balor) in his past. The announcers were mentioning that win over Lyger even before the finish of the match. My guess is Eagles gets a big win over a Mexican (who’s not even on the Gran Prix team) to set up the bigger show, and CMLL parts with their Middleweight Championship for a while, but it’s not a sure thing.
Soberano Jr. now has a merchandise van at Arena Mexico.
CMLL (SAT) 08/06/2022 Arena Coliseo [CMLL]
1) Apocalipsis & Cholo b Bengala & Neón
Rudos took 1/3
2) La Guerrera, La Magnifica, Maligna b Amapola, La Seductora, Olympia
Tecnicas took 1/3
3) Disturbio, Nitro Raider, Okumura b Arkalis, Astral, Sangre Imperial
Rudos took 2/3.
4) Felino, Pólvora, Rey Bucanero b Guerrero Maya Jr., Pegasso, Stigma
Rey Bucanero replaced Kraneo on Thursday
5) Panterita del Ring, Robbie Eagles, Stuka Jr. DQ Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Gran Guerrero
Tecnicos took 2/3. Rojo fouled Eagles.
I had all these ideas about Eagles feuding with Volador or maybe Cavernario and it’s Dragon Rojo. You never know.
CMLL (SUN) 08/07/2022 Arena México [CMLL]
1) Acero & Aéreo DQ Pequeño Olímpico & Pequeño Polvora
2) Cachorro, Oro Jr., Valiente Jr. b Grako, Inquisidor, Nitro
Tecnicos took 2/3
3) Diamond, Flyer, Magia Blanca b Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
Depredadors took 2/3.
4) Cancerbero, Luciferno, Pólvora b Astral, Blue Panther, Dark Panther
Astral replaced Star Jr. Rudos took 1/3.
5) Negro Casas, Robbie Eagles, Titán b Cavernario, Euforia, Terrible
Tecnicos took 1 (DQ)/3
Eagles remains undefeated so far in Mexico.
CMLL (TUE) 08/09/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Kaligua, Último Dragóncito vs Full Metal, Minos, Pequeño Violencia
2) Astral, Suicida, Volcano vs Cholo, Disturbio, Raider
3) La Jarochita, Lluvia, Princesa Sugehit vs Amapola, Metálica, Reyna Isis
4) Dark Panther, Fugaz, Star Black vs Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado
Dark Panther replaced Esfinge on Monday
5) Atlantis Jr., Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Terrible
A Tuesday card. Esfinge got pulled off the Puebla (Audaz in) and Tuesday Arena Mexico cards on Monday morning. Last week’s Sagrado/Hechicero bit went nowhere.
That 08/18 special CMLL/Big Lucha show in Arena Coliseo has a main event tag team tournament with Averno & Mephisto, Rocky Romero & Robbie Eagles, Skayde & Aeroboy and Tiger Mask IV & a surprise wrestler. They announced that a while back. What’s changed is Mistico announcing he’ll be back for the Gran Prix. I should’ve realized this when the card was announced, but Mistico was surely meant to be Tiger Mask IV’s partner. They have history in NJPW. It may have been about letting CMLL announce Mistico’s return first, or a wait-and-see situation with his foot.
AAA
AAA’s TripleMania press conference revealed less than we thought we knew. AAA announced the major matches for the crowd, but left one of the biggest unsettled.
Matches announced
- a Copa Bardahl
- a Marvel Lucha Libre match
- Taya (c) vs Thunder Rosa for the AAA Reina de Reinas championship
- Rosa’s AEW championship is not on the line.
- Pagano vs Cibernetico in a hair vs hair match
- Hijo del Vikingo vs TBD for the AAA Mega Championship
- Villano IV vs Pentagon Jr. in a mask vs mask match.
Everyone kinda had most of this. It’s a little surprising there are four singles matches. I still expect Pagano & Ciber to have other people involved, though maybe I shouldn’t count on that after Hijo del Tirantes/Lady Shani. There were media and fans confused as to why Flammer wasn’t getting her title shot, but AAA’s been consistent about not following up on most of their TV angles this year.
The Vikingo match is a curiosity. The concept presented is that it’ll be a singles match, with AAA soliciting opinions from fans on social media as to who to have in the match, letting them suggest anyone they’d like. AAA & Omega originally said they’d do the Vikingo/Omega match when Omega was healthy. AAA doing Fenix/Vikingo instead “because the fans demanded it!” is a clever excuse to not doing the originally promised match. AAA TV has had Fenix and Vikingo wanting to face each other, even with Vikingo saying he wants Fenix more than Omega right now in a recent promo. Verano de Escnadalo with Fenix and Vikingo again teasing the match, only with the announcers saying it’s unclear if it’ll happen. I think AAA believes they’ll get the fans to push for that match and it’ll be fine.
I’m not sure they needed to go through the headache of the open fan poll. The Omega stuff has been downplayed for months – Vikingo’s promo was the first time Omega’s been named since maybe April – and most fans would’ve been fine with just Fenix/Vikingo being announced today. The best case is most people want Vikingo to Fenix, but that’ll still leave a lot of people who asked AAA for Vikingo/Omega (or other wilder options) and then were told their votes didn’t count enough. (It almost doesn’t matter if it’s legit or not, people who didn’t feel heard are going to be upset all the same.) A ‘fans can pick whoever they want’ really leaves the option for someone to start a campaign over someone AAA had no plan for that spot (a Taurus, a Iguana, a Dave the Clown) or an option AAA can’t possibly deliver (Vikingo/Euforia let’s go) and totally sabotage them. This sort of idea does get people talking about AAA and TripleMania where there’s nothing much to talk about AAA, but it could backfire. Leaving something up to this to social media is like acting with a live animal; maybe they’ll stay on task, but there’s a chance and you’ll get mauled.
AAA will have a follow-up press conference in September where Vikingo’s opponent will be revealed, as well as the rest of the card. AAA is planning all the usual events around their big shows: the pilgrimage/march to the church will be back, they’ll be doing meet and greets, etc. The show will air on FITE, though it wasn’t announced here – the focus was getting on tickets sold. Pagano and Cibernetico did the required press conference fight, while Penta and Villano IV were more respectful and serious in building their match. Thunder Rosa vs Taya got a lot of outside attention because it was an AEW person who hadn’t been seen in AAA yet.
AAA TV (FRI) 08/05/2022 Nuevo Lienzo Charro, Aguascalientes, Aguascalientes [SuperLuchas, TV Azteca, VOW]
Verano de Escandalo, 2022
1) Arkángel Divino ?? Último Maldito
added dark match
2) Bestia Infernal, Corazón Forajido, Príncipe Seir ?? Dark Fiinder, Discovery, Trihan
locals dark match
3) Aramis, Mr. Iguana, Niño Hamburguesa b Diva Salvaje, Dulce Canela, Jessy Ventura
Microman was to be with the Iguana/Hambuergesa team
4) Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón b DMT Azul, Puma King, Sam Adonis [AAA TRIOS]
Empresa fell on their 1st defense and had some internal discontent post match. DMT Azul wore a Boogeyman homage outfit for unclear reasons.
5) Bandido b Laredo Kid, Willie Mack, Rey Horus
Rey Horus replaced Caballero (injury, he claimed movie work).
6) Charly Manson, Pagano, Psycho Clown b Abismo Negro Jr., Cibernético, Psicosis
Konnan distracted Cibernetico to help Pagano win. Pagano and Konnan shook hands post match.
7) Lady Shani b Hijo del Tirantes [hair]
Tirantes Sr. refereed and didn’t help his brother son. Tirantes got his hair cut in the ring, then declared he had no longer had a father before fouling him and powerbombing Shani
8) Fénix, Pentagón Jr., Taya b Chik Tormenta, Hijo Del Vikingo, Taurus
Fenix, Penta and Taya are Lucha Squad. Fenix beat Vikingo with the Fire Driver.
Like CMLL’s Friday night show, this was also a show which mostly existed to build up a future show. CMLL came off much hotter, this show had by far the worst match, and it was less definite in the directions. AAA decided to leave it a postpone answering questions if Fenix and Vikingo were having their match, what Cibernetico & Pagano are doing and more until the press conference on Monday. The only newsworthy event happened off of TV, where the trios titles changed hands (and perhaps La Empresa breakup?). Match 4 & 8 were good but not extraordinary so. You can take a pass on Week 1 of this if you haven’t watched it yet.
AAA claimed a sell out (around 7,000), and it looked that way to people who were there. The crowd was most into Tirantes/Shani, so that match surely helped. It was death on TV. I imagine that match being something similar to the Apache/Purrazzo match on TripleManis, just nonstop interference and shennagins to (in this case at least) hide the limitations of the people involved. AAA instead just let Lady Shani and Hijo del Tirantes have a normal long match with no outside involvement in the way they normally don’t let anyone but the top workers in the promotion do. I have no understanding why they trusted those wrestlers so much. Shani slipped on her first time running the ropes, or just got confused very quickly. Hijo del Tirantes totally gassed by halfway through the match, making the match drag on because he was so slow to execute or take moves. The death valley driver “through” a table spot was one of the more laughable spots in AAA in a long time, and the submission finish took multiple attempts to apply because Tirantes was just toast. If the idea of the match was to embarrass both Shani & Hijo del Tirantes, it was a success. The best moment of the match was Tirantes Sr. taking an absurd bump and I wish the match was all that instead. Instead, It went about 16 minutes, it may have meant to go 10-12 minutes before Hijo del Tirantes started moving slow, and it really should’ve gone 6. The fans who were excited to see Tirantes get beat up and get his head shaved, and could’ve gotten it without half that length.
Again, the crowd live was said to be really into the match no matter how bad it looked on TV. And again, AAA’s audio decisions (live commentary, badly miced crowd) meant we only heard the first two rows for most of the show. The Tirantes/Shani match was a rare time where we could hear a few more people in spots. It was a 7,000 person crowd that rarely came across like that. This is not new, and I feel like I’m beating a dead horse about it.
Hijo del Tirantes did get his head shaved backstage. Lady Shani was both happy there was no interference in the match and felt it was the beginning of their feud, not the end. The point of a hair match is to end a feud; it’s damaging the stipulation to say it’s going to keep going. It will indeed keep going.
Fenix & Vikingo was good, but the main event felt built around Taya & Tormenta for a lot (and a very artificial feeling double table spot to take them out.) “Lucha Squad” is a generic name – if Lucha Underground had action figures, the knockoff version at the dollar stores would’ve been called Lucha Squad – but those guys will get everything over. The four-way neither felt like a dream match nor really worked like one; they tried hard, but it was a normal TV match for those guys. The trios match wasn’t much good, but it paled in comparison to what would follow it. I think Konnan may be a face this month, but it only means he’s more likely to “shockingly” turn heel on the next show.
Arkangel Divino & Ultimo Maldito are originally from Aguascalientes so it would make some sense they were around, but it’s weird to see them doing dark matches. I think their first one for AAA may have been in 2013; AAA knows who they are. Maybe it was a favor for the local promoter. It’s also strange because Divino & Maldito were to (and as best I can tell, actually did) wrestle in Arena Puebla for the Arena Coliseo Tag Team Titles the next day for Lucha Memes. It’s not exactly going from AAA to CMLL, but it’s something CMLL would normally object to if they knew about it. Divino & Maldito wrestling in a dark match means CMLL probably didn’t know, though it’s something that could cause Lucha Memes issues later.
A fan asked Faby Apache on Instagram why they haven’t seen her in AAA, and she replied she’s an independent now, she can be seen on those shows. Faby Apache is still listed on the odd AAA spot show (like this upcoming one in Orizaba), but that relationship has appeared to be coming to an end all year. AAA switched the Hijo del Tirantes feud to Lady Shani back at Rey de Reyes. That was the sign Faby was on the way out, though it seemed to be under the radar until the Shani/Tirantes match was announced. Faby forever remains popular with the AAA fan base, to the extent it’s seemed hard to get others over because those fans just want to see Apache in the lead roles (and she’s a very skilled wrestler at getting reactions from the crowd.) Faby has appeared on indie shows in recent months with the Freak Family, a group of ex-AAA and CMLL wrestlers including her significant other, Dark Cuervo.
Faby Apache has only wrestled for AAA and never for CMLL. Her father did wrestle for CMLL as late as 1994. There’s already intense fan speculation if now is the time Apache would show up now. This specific moment wouldn’t be ideal – there’s enough already set for Aniversario. The women’s Gran Prix and the women’s Universal tournaments are scheduled for October, a better fit. Faby Apache is often mentioned as not especially well-liked by her fellow luchadoras, but guys like Cibernetico and Gronda weren’t exactly beloved before CMLL brought them in. CMLL made the call in those cases because they believed those men were a draw. I believe Faby Apache would bring added interest to those women’s matches, but it’s unclear if CMLL feels Faby, or any other Mexican woman, would be a draw.
DMT Azul is listed on the 09/09 The Crash show. There are rumors he’s finished up with AAA, but one doesn’t necessarily lead to the other. (Hermanos Lee is also booked for that show.) Azul gets a lot of indie work, from working against Blue Demon Jr. and others, and is usually higher on the card in that show.
AAA ran a big non-televised show in Puebla on Saturday and immediately announced another one for October 8th in the same location. As mentioned before, this is the same as the Showcetner cards; we probably won’t see them outside of many clips to advertise the next show. They seem to be running the Puebla ones every second month.
IWRG
IWRG (SUN) 08/07/2022 Arena Naucalpan [IWRG, Mas Lucha]
1) Genex & John Tito b Kenji & Vértigo
2) Lolita, Mary Caporal, Santania b Bengalee, Sagitarius, Therius
3) Arkángel Divino, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly b Destiny, Paymon, Último Maldito
4) Aster Boy b Puma de Oro
very bloody match (maybe unintentionally so), Aster Boy won via martinete
5) Karaoui, Tony Trivado, Yorvak b Fly Warrior, Fulgor, Galeno del Mal
debut Trivado fouled Galeno del Mal for the win.
6) Dick Angelo 3G, Legendario, Tonalli b Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr.
Jacuan won to set up a EDM TRIOS match
I think it was Aster Boy who got cut too deeply after taking a light tube shot to an arm and bled a disturbing amount in the fourth match. It could’ve been Puma de Oro, because they both were just covered by the end of that match. So was the ring. I hope they’re both OK today.
Match three was said to be spectacular.
The next IWRG special show is all championship matches, so the trios title bit in the main event is part of that.
Big Lucha
Big Lucha World (WED) 08/10/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Diosa Nix vs Sussy Love, ?
2) Foreno vs Carito [BL CHAMP, Block B Qualifying, semifinal]
3) Radioactivo vs Limbo [BL CHAMP, Block B Qualifying, semifinal]
4) Komander vs Arez [BL CHAMP, Block B, quarterfinal]
Komander vs Arez could be the best match happening Wednesday.
There is a third woman in the opener, but Big Lucha doesn’t list a name. I know here, I just can’t come up with either.
Big Lucha (FRI) 08/26/2022 Bandidos Gym, Iztapalapa, Distrito Federal
1) Cometa Maya, Éxtasis, Radioactivo vs Forneo, Sol, Torito
2) Diva Salvaje, Dulce Canela, Jessy Ventura vs King, Kong, Tibiri Tabara
3) Accion Jackson, Emperador Azteca, Flamita, Yutani vs ?, ??, Skayde, Viajero
4) Carito & Tirano vs El Potro de Oro & Shocko [TLC]
5) ? vs ?? [BL CHAMP, Block B, semifinal]
6) ? vs ?? [BL CHAMP, Block B, semifinal]
7) ? vs ?? [BL CHAMP, Block B, final]
This show will have the final two rounds of the tournament, and they may not announce who’s in the matches until the day before the show. Forneo, Carito, and Radioactivo are still alive in the tournament. I think the third match mystery people are those in the main tournament who haven’t been knocked out yet, so they were more careful there.
Las Shotas may help this show to draw better than last time. I’m not sure I need more of the Tirano/Potro de Oro feud.
Cometa Maya, Extasis and Radioactivo are now “Delta Team”. Sky Team probably wasn’t going to fly with CMLL.
Other News
Mexican luchador TNT (Jose Guadalupe Aguilar Herrera) passed away at the age of 84 on Friday. TNT was one of the top heavyweight wrestlers in Mexico in the 70s & 80s, which meant he spent a lot of time as a touring opponent of Mil Mascaras. After his first few years, he made his money more as an independent touring opponent. His career as a top-level Mexican wrestler was only about a decade and a half; he was wrapped up before the late TV boom and so seems like a name farther from the past. SuperLuchas has an obit, noting TNT bringing a snake to matches pre-dated the more famous US version of that same idea
Tabasco luchador Torbellino (Juvencio Alvarez Lopez, 61) passed away on Saturday. He’d started wrestling at age 15 and was still actve locally last year. He’d been appointed head of the local box y lucha commission last June.
On Saturday’s (not well attended) Arena Neza show, the main event ended with no finish when Vangellys & Bestia del Ring ran in to help La Mascara. There’s been some distance between La Mascara and the other members of Los Ingobernables in recent years. There was never a big public falling out, so it was unclear if something happened behind the scenes, or just careers going in vastly different directions. Vangellys & La Bestia del Ring are much closer to La Mascara’s current level, maybe the idea is those three as a trio if Rush is busy elsewhere.
AAW announced Laredo Kid vs Zachary Wents vs Dante Leon vs Gringo Loco for the 09/01 show. That’s All Out weekend, so I suspect Laredo Kid will be showing up on the GCW cards as well.
It took them about five days, but Nacion Lucha Libre did get around to posting a link to buy tickets for their 09/24 show. Tickets run from 173 to 483 for normal tickets, plus a special VIP section for 1058 pesos. They’re running in the theatre, and capacity is listed as 559 people. It’s hard to look at the ticket prices and that capacity and figure out how they’re paying for the plane flights, much less the wrestlers. They must be getting money from other sources.
Diario looks back at Bello Greco.