CMLL
CMLL (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena México
1) Hombre Bala Jr. vs Disturbio [lightning]
2) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Magnus, Okumura, Rugido
3) Ángel de Oro, Niebla Roja, Yota vs Cavernario, Dragón Rojo Jr., Templario
4) Arkalis & Atlantis vs Panterita del Ring Jr. & Volador Jr. and El Suicida & Titán and Halcón Suriano Jr. & Soberano Jr. and Valiente & Valiente Jr. and Blue Panther & Cachorro and Neón & Stuka Jr. and Gran Guerrero & Raider [Gran Alternativa]
This is a battle royal, four quarterfinals and two semifinals, with the last two meeting next week.
Panterita del Ring Jr. looks like the winner on paper. Panterita del Ring may not be the winner and may not be advancing even to the final. The Panteritas, father & son, are among those booked for a show in Saltillo next Friday. Lineups can change, but it looks likely the best prospect CMLL has will not be in Mexico City for the finals of the best prospect tournament. Raider (& Gran Guerrero) and Suicida (& Titan) seems the most likely final now. That match should be very good and both guys would be logical winners if Panterita didn’t exist. Suicida/Titan going from opponents on the Noche de Campeones show to partners as winners in the Gran Alternativa would be a good story. I haven’t seen Cachorro on that level but I would have no objections to Blue Panther in a big match next week.
The tercera could be great if they want it to be great. And if everyone is healthy. Niebla Roja is still listed, so his knee injury on Saturday.
The Tuesday Arena Mexico shows will return to CMLL’s own digital media channels starting this week. The shows will be live, free and available worldwide on both YouTube and Facebook. CMLL had one-off live streams the last two years, and this is a return to a weekly free live wrestling show.
Tuesday shows have been airing on MarcaClaro, with CMLL getting a small rights fee in exchange. MarcaClaro streamed the Friday shows. I suspect this is more likely MarcaClaro getting out of this business (for the time being.) MarcaClaro’s transmissions had far more frequent issues than CMLL self-produced streams, and were limited to Mexico only; they wouldn’t be missed if they were gone. It is possible, but less likely, this is MarcaClaro going back to Friday shows and replacing TicketmasterLive there. That has it’s advantages and disadvantages, none of which are worth worrying about unless it actually happens. All December Friday night CMLL shows remain listed on TicketmasterLive.
I’ve been using a VPN and proxy servers to download these shows and put them on the Google Drive, and that process has been annoying and lengthy. I’m very glad not to have to deal with that any more. I may continue to archive any important matches on the Google Drive like I’ve done for pre-2020 years in case CMLL’s YouTube channel ever disappear, but not the whole shows. There’s no point.
CMLL announced their lineups for Christmas Day and the two Best of 2022 shows. (The 01/01 lineup has not been fully announced yet.)
CMLL (SUN) 12/25/2022 Arena México
1) Angelito, Shockercito, Último Dragóncito vs Mercurio, Minos, Pierrothito
2) Micro Gemelo Diablo I, Micro Gemelo Diablo II, Micro Sagrado vs Átomo, Chamuel, Periquito Sacaryas
3) Esfinge, Fugaz, Star Black vs Hijo del Villano III, Sagrado, Yota
4) Atlantis, Hijo de Octagón, Octagón vs Cavernario, Gran Guerrero, Templario
5) Atlantis Jr., Místico, Volador Jr. vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
Christmas Day is sometimes a free stream. It’s OK if they don’t stream it this year. The main event could be fun but I rather spend Christmas Day sad and alone than watching an Octagon match.
The problems with the Micro division are they don’t have many wrestlers, and their top face act are rudos Micro Gemelos Diablos. CMLL has addressed this problem by adding a heel to team with them, which is likely to be usual partner Micro Angel getting a new gimmick.
CMLL (MON) 12/19/2022 Arena Puebla
1) Rey Apocalipsis & Siki Ozama Jr. vs Black Tiger & Espíritu Maligno
2) Fuego, Halcón Suriano Jr., Príncipe Odín Jr. vs El Perverso, Millenium, Prayer
3) Princesa Sugehit © vs Stephanie Vaquer [CMLL WOMEN]
6th defense
4) Hijo de Octagón, Stigma, Valiente vs Cavernario, Templario, Yota
5) Místico & Último Guerrero vs Ángel de Oro & Volador Jr. [Relevos Increíbles]
This is the first eight PM start time show. They’re also doing a bit where fans who buy tickets in the first few rows can come in the ring and take a photo with the wrestlers in the main event after the match. Those decisions in pairs feel like attendance-driven moves. CMLL Arena Mexico doing less rivaliest to be more friendly to tourist/super casual fans works for them, but is a bit of a problem for locations that are mostly regular weekly fans. Guadalajara’s gone with a different formula to work there and Puebla may eventually need to do the same. There definitely is something local going on with Hijo de Octagon showing up here and only here consistently.
CMLL (TUE) 12/20/2022 Arena Coliseo Guadalajara
1) Atilius, Maximus, Rey Urano vs Black Boy, Estrella Oriental Jr., Mortis
2) Luminoso, Minotauro, Quka vs Cris Skin, Gallero, Javier Cruz Jr.
3) Ángel Rebelde, Draego, Optimus, Trono vs Barboza, JKR, Persa, Temerario
4) Luna, Náutica, Princesa Tiger, Sexy Sol vs La Magnifica, Nexy, Sol (Jalisco), Valkyira
5) Adrenalina, El Divino, Explosivo, Fantástico vs Bárbaro Cavernario, Canalla, Demonio Maya, Principe Daniel
6) Dulce Gardenia, Espíritu Negro, Rey Cometa vs Gran Guerrero, Último Guerrero, Zandokan Jr.
There are so many people booked. Guadalajara isn’t drawing that much better than the Tuesday/Sunday CMLL shows and they’re booking more people. It leads to certain assumptions about the rate of pay for some of these guys.
The main event is an unusual combination for regular CDMX people, Dulce Atrapsuenos usually don’t get up to the Guerreros level. Semi-main is all four Cavernario brothers.
I’m sure the woman named “Sol” had that name before she got booked in Guadalajara. In any other country, the promoters would either ask Sol to use a slightly different name to prevent confusion or (more often) dictate the name she’ll use when working for this group. That just doesn’t seem to happen in Mexico outside of the biggest groups, which apparently Arena Coliseo Guadalajara isn’t one. I’ve got her listed as Sol (Jalisco) as to not confuse her with Sexy Sol and also the Mexico City male wrestler named Sol, but I’m not even sure she’s from Jalisco. Princesa Tiger appears to be a Michoacan based wrestler.
Guadalajara also has a free show this Sunday with no lineup. Those have streamed on Facebook as of late.
CMLL (FRI) 01/06/2023 Arena México
1) Mercurio vs Angelito
rematch from 2022-05-27 (minis title match)
2) Dark Panther, Panterita del Ring, Panterita del Ring Jr. vs Cancerbero, Luciferno, Virus
rematch from 2022-11-25
3) Ángel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs Guerrero Maya Jr. & Titán
rematch from 2022-01-23 (CMLL tag title change); Maya replacing Volador Jr.
4) Gemelo Diablo I, Gemelo Diablo II, Sagrado vs Euforia, Hechicero, Mephisto
rematch from 2022-09-30 (then a trios title match)
5) Soberano Jr. vs Templario
rematch from 2022-07-29 (Leyenda de Plata final)
Soberano/Templario is worth redoing and feels like it belongs on a best of show. The rest are really good matches but not as notable. The trios title match had the one good Gemelo Diablo spot, though it’s strange that the match of September 2022 is that one and not either of the two mask matches.
CMLL (FRI) 01/13/2023 Arena México
1) Esfinge & Fugaz vs Magia Blanca & Rugido
rematch from 2022-10-28 (then for MEX TAG)
2) Dulce Gardenia vs Virus
rematch from 2022-02-12 (Arena Coliseo)
3) Espíritu Negro, Guerrero Maya Jr., Rey Cometa vs Akuma, Dark Magic, Espanto Jr.
rematch from 2022-04-19
4) Hechicero vs Euforia
rematch from 2022-08-19 (then for CMLL HEAVY)
5) Averno & Místico vs Rocky Romero & Volador Jr.
rematch from 2022-03-18 (Rocky Romero replacing TJP)
This is a good time to go over the process for these shows
- matches occur!
- CMLL picked about a half dozen matches per month for a vote on their website
- fans vote for their favorites
- CMLL picks some of those winners for these shows
Fugaz & Esfinge vs Rugido & Magia Blanca was not a good match – Fugaz had a bad night – but those wrestlers have enough of a fan base to get lots of votes in a poll. I don’t recall match 3 at all, but Ola Negra has support that always shows up so it’s not a surprise they’re represented somewhere in here. The Gardenia/Virus match only turned up as highlights, so it’s just the people in the building who know it if was good. The main event too neatly fits into the Volador/Romero story for me to believe that was totally a fan-decided match.
No sign of the Atlantis family or the Guerreros. That’s not too surprising, considering fan voting was involved and the Guerreros do not have strong social media fanbases. No women’s matches as well is shocking given that fan voting setup, where the women always do very well. Also, it just looks bad not to have a women’s match on Best of shows. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more vocal unhappiness about that, from both the fans and the wrestlers. It could easily be that no one’s just paying attention to these lineups yet. Alfredo theorized that maybe CMLL is waiting until FantasticaMania week to do something with the women, since they’re not going on that trip, and that’s as good as guess any.
No matches from June or December were selected. December is impossible to make it the way the polling is done. June could’ve been Euforia versus Terrible or Titan vs Fugaz. It might have also been Los Guerreros vs Los Soberanos, a match that doesn’t seem possible to happen now with whatever’s going on with Soberano and Ultimo Guerrero.
There are no Mexican luchadors announced for NJPW’s 01/04 Tokyo Dome show. This is a battle royal with all surprise participants, so it’s possible Titan or someone could pop up as a surprise. NJPW also announced loosening crowd noise restrictions. It’s not completely back to pre-pandemic and it’s only announced for that show. It’s a a good sign there will be similar cheering freedom on the FantasicaMania shows in February, at least the ones in Korakuen Hall.
El Universal has an interview with Bengala about the cage match. Bengala acknowledges he had a previous name and identity – he’s believed to be the former Sombra de Plata – and talks about how older guys looked down at him, thinking wrestlers under 90 kg weren’t any good and could only fly. Now he’s the old guy who does the “classic” style wrestling and sees guys flying too much. He cites Mogur as a tough opponent: “he hit you so hard in your chest that your back hurt, you had to get in the ring to defend yourself against him, or quit.” He credits Damian (666?) as teaching him various dramatic exists (salidas) from the ring that helped his style.
A person in Matamoros is passing themselves off as a former Mistico.
AAA
This week’s AAA TV on Space
- Güero Bandido, Monaguillo, Samuray VIP vs Johan Kind, Ráfaga Jr., Serpiente Blanco Jr (locals)
- Reina Dorada, Sexy Star, Sussy Love vs Flammer, La Hiedra, Maravilla
- Arez, Bandido, Octagón Jr. vs Gringo Loco, Rey Horus, Villano III Jr.
- maybe some build for Bandido vs Viking too
It’s on at 6:30 pm. I may be able to stream it at the correct time.
Below is the current card for Saturday’s taping in Ciudad Madero.
AAA TV (SAT) 12/17/2022 Domo Madero, Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas [BWT Banana]
1) Dark Spíritu, Electroshock, Hijo del Picudo, Nygma vs ?, Avorto, Chaneke, Loco Castillo
2) Aerostar, Reina Dorada, Sexy Star vs Demus, La Hiedra, Maravilla
3) Mr. Iguana & Niño Hamburguesa vs SB KENTo & Takuma
4) Arez & Myzteziz Jr. vs Argenis & Parka Negra
5) Aramis, Octagón Jr., Willie Mack vs Cuatrero, Forastero, Sansón © [AAA TRIOS]
2nd defense
6) Sammy Guevara & Tay Melo vs Abismo Negro Jr. & Flammer
7) Dave The Clown & Murder Clown vs Gringo Loco & Villano III Jr.
Vampiro guest referee
8) Komander, Pagano, Taurus vs Cibernético, Dralistico, Rush
Originally Fenix vs Komander vs Taurus for the Latin American championship. Fenix announced (locally) as being off the show late on 12/14, with the new trios main event in it’s place. First Rush match in AAA since the onset of the pandemic.
The local promoter announced changes on Wednesday night, AAA updated their poster on Thursday.
Fenix & Penta have been announced as appearing at the Republic of Lucha on this day since at least November 28th, a week after the original card was announced. This is a late announcement both sides must’ve been aware of the date conflict for a while. It seems unlikely Fenix would’ve wanted to do an intense match for AAA when he’s in the middle of a demanding series of matches in AEW.
It’s AAA, so I’m unsure how seriously to take the changes. They could actually run the trios main event match, or it could’ve just been the simplest decision on Wednesday and they’ll wait to Saturday to decide what matches they’re actually going to run. Local fans seem happy with Rush as a replacement, though going from Komander vs Taurus vs Fenix to that announced main event is a significant downgrade in quality. Dralistico wasn’t good in his match in ROH last weekend, and it’d take a big Taurus effort to fix that here. Taurus doesn’t make sense on his side of the tag match but there’s no obvious place to put him. Vampiro is still listed as being the referee in the semi-main, but that seems like it’ll change. It’s an AAA card, they’ll wait to see who’s actually there and change half the card.
Still not sure if the Sammy/Tay match is meant to be a mixed-tag title defense. Doesn’t seem likely to change hands either way. I feel like I should ask on Twitter if they’re actually coming, but that may be too much trouble-making out of me.
This is the next AAA TV taping to air. I’m not sure if that means it airs starting next Saturday or if AAA/Space will go into repeat mode for the next two holiday Saturdays.
Dorian Roldan appears to be in (or was in) Qatar watching the World Cup and meeting with a local promoter.
Warrior Wrestling announced the winner of Saturday’s Johnny Warrior versus Sam Adonis match will face Hijo del Vikingo on 01/21 for both the AAA Megachampionship and the Warrior Wrestling Lucha Libre championship.
IWRG
The 60th Anniversary show
IWRG (FRI) 12/16/2022 Arena Naucalpan
***60th Anniversary show***
1) 1 vs 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 [Copa IWRG]
all surprise names
2) Keyra vs Diosa Quetzal [IWRG IC WOMEN, final]
3) Aramis, Noisy Boy, Spider Fly vs Abismo Negro Jr., Baby Xtreme, Hell Boy
4) Gran Pandemónium, Hijo de Pandemónium, Pandemónium Jr. © vs ?, Diva Salvaje, Jessy Ventura [EdM Trios]
8th defense
5) Hijo De Canis Lupus & Rey León © vs Galeno del Mal & Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. [IWRG IC TAG]
first defense
6) Blue Demon Jr., Heavy Metal, Tinieblas Jr. vs Dr. Wagner Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, Pirata Morgan
7) Tonalli vs Puma de Oro vs Aster Boy [mask]
This is a Mas Lucha subscriber-only show. It’s the 60th anniversary of the Moreno family promoting lucha libre shows in Mexico State, starting with Adolfo Moreno. The first home for the promotion was a rented rooster fighting arena, and tonight’s main event will likely be only slightly less bloody.
They’re going to try really hard to make the main event special. I think it’s just their ideas of what makes a special match just differs from what I’m looking for. I’ll probably watch anyway; IWRG will start before CMLL but stands a good chance of ending after. They’re pushing the idea Tonalli is done with IWRG after this show, even doing an interview with him and Ultimo Guerrero to continue to tease he’s headed to CMLL.
The third match looks like the next batch match on the show. The hope is this is a hot and packed crowd, and everything feels big.
The ESTO IWRG interview to promote this show quotes Ivanna Moreno, which indicates it’s age.
Big Lucha
Big Lucha gave out their 2022 awards Thursday night, with actual plaques and a ceremony. And vertically filmed video. These were all decided by Facebook voting via emoji.
- Faction: Black Generation
- Entrance: Bandido
- Luchadora: Sussy Love
- Luchador Revelacion: Dito
- Luchador International: Yutani
- Team: Los Gorilla Brothers
- Rudo: Flamita
- Moment of the year: Bandido becoming first Big Lucha champion
- Referee: El Mosco
- Tecnico: Gravity
- Luchador: Bandido
- Surprise: Bandido to AEW
- Match: Flamita vs Bandido for the Big Lucha championship
- Show: Big Lucha 1st Anniversary
There were also a bunch of special recognition awards handed out to people who helped through the year.
Other News
LuchaWorld has this latest Lucha Report.
The Cassandro dramatic will premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in January. The important thing about this film is it’ll create unity of the correct “2s” spelling of Cassandro’s name should is be a hit, rather than the alternate 1s spelling. Also, it’s probably meant to be getting some award consideration if it’s showing up at Sundance, and award-contending wrestling often affects the local wrestling scene greatly in ways not easily to foresee – I’m not sure anyone guessed Jerry Lynn as ROH champion or Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania as outcomes when that movie was about to debut. The spelling part is slightly more important to me at this moment.
Aeroboy & Violento Jack won a three-way tag match to main event DTU’s 15th Anniversary show in Arena Aficion. The show drew just OK, with the lower half about half full and the upper level empty. SB KENTo and Takuma won the DTU Nexo Tag championships on the show, which should turn up on Mas Lucha.
RIOT announced Blake Christian is off their show on Saturday. AEW is taping Dark in Orlando this weekend; he may have been called there.
PWG announced their first-round BOLA matches. Some relevant matches
- Latigo vs Komander
- Aramis vs Shun Skywalker
- Bandido vs Black Taurus vs Hijo del Vikingo